Slippery Rock grad Jenna Rinker has played well in her senior golf season at Robert Morris University. She recently won the Youngstown State Women's Invitational.

MOON TWP — It was raining. It was windy. It was chilly.

It was just the way Jenna Rinker likes it.

No stranger to poor weather on the golf course, the Slippery Rock High graduate and senior on the Robert Morris University women’s golf team shot a second-round score of 74 on a damp and blustery morning at the Youngstown State Women’s Invitational Sept. 18 at Mill Creek Golf Club.

It matched her first-round score of 74 the day before and won her the tournament by a stroke over Olivia Richards of the University of Detroit Mercy.

“I was actually glad the weather was so bad,” Rinker said, laughing. “I played in bad weather all through high school. I’ve played in snow before. I felt like I had the advantage over everyone else.”

Rinker was solid throughout both rounds of the tournament.

She finished with four birdies and 24 pars in the 36-hole event. The two rounds of 74 were career lows for Rinker and the 74 also was the third-lowest score in RMU women’s golf history.

Her improvement off the tee was one of the main reasons for her success, she said, especially on the course’s par-5s. She was 2-under par on those holes in the two rounds.

“This summer, my game really started coming around,” Rinker said. “I worked hard on it with my dad (Clarion University golf coach Marty Rinker) and gained a lot of yardage back. I also spent hours at the gym getting stronger. That’s been my biggest improvement.”

Rinker transferred from Clarion to Robert Morris midway through her freshman season. She wrapped up her first collegiate year with the Colonials with an 81.1 scoring average that year.

Rinker has seen that average climb to 82.5 during her sophomore season to 83.4 last season.

She was frustrated with her lack of progress.

Her last tournament win came in 2010, when she claimed the Mount St. Marys Spring Invitational in her first event for RMU.

The win at Youngstown was a long time coming for Rinker, whose scoring average is 78.6 in this young season.

“I hadn’t won a tournament since my freshman year,” Rinker said. “You start thinking, ‘Am I ever going to win again?’ This one was great, but I’d love to get more.”

Rinker has a sense of urgency this year.

“I can’t believe I’m a senior,” she said. “It feels like I just got here. I definitely want to keep playing after I graduate. Golf has been my life since I was little.”

For now, Rinker is focusing on this season.

College golf is split into two mini-campaigns: a truncated fall season and a longer one in the spring.

Even with one win under her belt already, Rinker’s goals haven’t changed.

“I want to win every event,” she said. “The win gives me confidence, particularly this early in the season. But I want to win a conference championship. I’ve been close, but not close enough. Even more important, I just want to have fun and enjoy it. It has flown by.”