Michigan
NCAA Championships (Day 3)
Bowers Cards 69, Helps U-M Maintain NCAA Standing
5/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Site: Auburn, Wash.
Course: Washington National Golf Club (par 72, 6,273 yards)
Tournament: NCAA Championships (Day 3 of 4)
U-M Standing: Tie-15th Place of 24 Teams (301-299-299/899) after Day 3
Top U-M Individual: Bess Bowers, tie-21st (75-76-69/220)
Next Event: Friday, May 24 -- at NCAA Championships (Auburn, Wash.)
AUBURN, Wash. -- With the clouds finally dissipating and blue skies prevailing, senior Bess Bowers (Bloomington, Ind./North HS) used a career-best three-under-par 69 to lead the University of Michigan women's golf team to its second straight team total of 299 today (Thursday, May 23) in the third round of the NCAA Women's Golf Championships at Washington National Golf Club. The Wolverines are now in a three-way tie for 15th with an 899 54-hole total after tallying team rounds of 301 and 299 on the first two days. The Wolverines are tied with Oklahoma State and Southern Cal in the 24-school event.
Bess Bowers
In addition to Bowers' remarkable round, freshman Laura Olin (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie HS) continued to have an outstanding championship, carding her second straight three-over 75, while senior LeAnna Wicks (Brighton, Mich./Brighton HS) followed with a five-over 77. Senior Misia Lemanski (Grosse Ile, Mich./Grosse Ile HS) and junior Kim Benedict (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams HS) had six-over 78s to help the Wolverines to their 299 total.
With some slight adjustments to her positioning and a red-hot putter, Bowers opened up her round with a birdie on No. 1 and rolled from there, parring the next eight holes to play the front at one-under par. She dropped back to even after her only blemish of the round, a bogey on 10 after she had to chip out of the rough following an errant drive. But she recovered quickly and played three-under on the last eight holes with birdies on 13, 14 and 18 to shoot 69 and finish as U-M's fifth player ever to break 70.
With birdies on 1 and 3, Olin came off the tee box on fire, playing two-under in just the first five holes. A bogey on 6 was quickly erased with a birdie on 7, but she double-bogeyed 8 and bogeyed 9 to close out her first nine at plus-one. After the turn, she got a stroke back with a birdie on 10 and followed with four straight pars. Bogeys on 15 and 17 pushed her back to plus-three with just a hole remaining. After a par on 18, she finished with her second straight 75.
After hitting green after green, Wicks' putter gave her trouble all round long. After a birdie on 2, two tight approach shots went unanswered with back-to-back bogeys on 3 and 4. She parred the next four holes but closed out the front with a bogey on 9 to stand at plus-two. After opening with a bogey on 10 and then another on 12, she got into another groove, parring the next five holes. But like the front she closed out her back side with a bogey on 18 to finish with her 77.
After opening with a bogey on 1, Lemanski's third round kicked into gear as she played one-under the rest of the front after a birdie on 9 to put her a even par at the turn. Then inconsistency struck as she bogeyed four of the next five holes. She continued to struggle finding her swing with bogeys on 16 and 18 to finish with her 78. Benedict, who struggled with her putter, opened with a bogey on 1 but parred the next two holes, only to double-bogey 4 and then bogey 8 to finish the front at plus-four. She continued to strike the ball well on the back, but the putter would not help as she bogeyed 13 and 15 to finish with her 78.
Individually, Bowers is tied for 21st (75-76-69/220), Olin is tied for 47th (74-75-75/224), Lemanski is tied for 59th (77-71-78/226) and Wicks is tied for 77th (75-77-77/229) in the 126-player field. Benedict was disqualified from the individual championship for signing an incorrect scorecard in the second round.
The team race is starting to heat up as Arizona (285-296-293/874) leads by just two strokes over Texas (305-286-285/876) and by three over Duke (294-293-290/877). All three will be paired together in the final round to battle for the national title beginning at 1:10 p.m. PDT.
Duke's Virada Nirapathpongporn (68-69-70/207) is the individual leader at nine under par and holds a three-stroke lead over Georgia's Summer Sirmons (69-68-73/210). Airzona's Lorena Ochoa (71-69-71/211) is third, just four strokes behind the leader.
The Wolverines will conclude the NCAA Championships with the final round Friday (May 24), going off the 10th tee beginning at 9 a.m. PDT. Michigan will be paired with Southern Cal (307-294-298/899) and Vanderbilt (311-296-296/903).
Team Standings (After Day 3)
1. Arizona 285-296-293 = 874 (+10)
2. Texas 305-286-285 = 876
3. Duke 294-293-290 = 877
4. Auburn 298-300-285 = 883
5. Florida 298-291-295 = 884
Georgia 294-294-296 = 884
7. Arizona State 301-292-292 = 885
8. Ohio State 299-292-296 = 887
9. Oklahoma 299-289-301 = 889
Stanford 299-295-295 = 889
11. Pepperdine 301-294-297 = 892
12. California 298-303-292 = 893
13. Tulsa 302-297-296 = 895
14. Purdue 304-296-297 = 897
15. MICHIGAN 301-299-299 = 899
Oklahoma State 299-303-297 = 899
Southern Cal 307-294-298 = 899
18. Vanderbilt 311-296-296 = 903
19. South Carolina 298-298-308 = 904
Washington 302-297-305 = 904
21. Wake Forest 298-305-302 = 905
22. UCLA 314-297-298 = 909
23. Michigan State 305-297-311 = 913
24. South Florida 313-322-323 = 958
Top Individuals
1. Virada Nirapathpongporn, Duke 68-69-70 = 207 (-9)
2. Summer Sirmons, Georgia 69-68-73 = 210
3. Lorena Ochoa, Arizona 71-69-71 = 211
4. Danielle Downey, Auburn 73-69-70 = 212
Lindsey Wright, Pepperdine 70-71-71 = 212
6. Janice Olivencia, Texas 70-71-73 = 214
Andrea Vander Lende, Florida 71-72-71 = 214
8. Angela Jerman, Georgia 70-74-71 = 215
Laura Myerscough, Arizona 70-73-72 = 215
10. Marcia Wallis, Stanford 70-73-73 = 216
Michigan Individual Scores
T21. Bess Bowers 75-76-69 = 220 T47. Laura Olin 74-75-75 = 224 T59. Misia Lemanski 77-71-78 = 226 T77. LeAnna Wicks 75-77-77 = 229 -- Kim Benedict 77-DQ-78
QUOTES
Head Coach Kathy Teichert
On the Wolverines' just missing that one low team round ... "I actually thought that one round was going to be today after the way we started off. The back side just hasn't been kind to us, at least it doesn't appear to have been. I mean, yesterday we played one particular hole very poorly. Today we played that hole okay. So we came back. It just didn't seem that we ended it very well from where we started."
On Bess Bowers' third-round 69 ... "What has been great is that we have had someone step up. Bess stepped up today, yesterday it was Misia's (Lemanski) turn. To have a 69, you can't take anything away from that. She had plenty of opportunities to go even lower than that, but it's great for Bess to get that low number. It will give her a lot of confidence going into tomorrow. It's going to be these seniors' last round. We are just going to go out there like we always do to and play well."
On what the Wolverines need in the final round ... "Maybe we can get the back over first and then shoot for birdies on the front and get that good start. We need everybody to step it up another notch instead of faltering. I really think we can score on this course. I really think all five of these players can score on this course."
Senior Bess Bowers
On the her third round of 69 ... "I was just really relaxed today. I didn't do anything special. I hit the same number of greens that I did yesterday. I just hit it closer to the pin, which sounds really elementary. I just thought that I hit it very well during the practice round and then on the range, someone had told me 'You're aimed to the right.' So, I was really worried the last two days about where I was aiming. Today, I just let myself aim to the right and draw it back to the pin and it worked. I was very, very comfortable over the ball. Every time I hit a shot I thought 'This is going to be perfect' and it was. I hit the ball really, really well. I got very lucky as well. I made a few putts and obviously you have to have a little luck to go that far under par."
On what the Wolverines need to do in the final round ... "I think the last few rounds we have had one person step it up and like we did on the last day of the regional, hopefully, we will have that one day where everyone steps it up. We have a lot of time today to practice and work on whatever we need to work on. We will probably meet tonight and get ourselves focused on tomorrow. Because that is it ... one round. That's hard to believe. But I am confident in this team. We just need to take it one shot at a time and keep it together."
Freshman Laura Olin
On her third round ... "The questions should be 'How can you shoot 75 with four bogeys' I started off my round birdie, par, birdie and then I went par, par, bogey and I got it right back with a birdie and then I went double bogey to finish up the first nine. It was a really up-and-down round. So, I was one-over on the front with three birdies and then I come to 10 and hit it into the waste bunker and make birdie out of that. Really after that I had a bogey on 15 and then on 17. I couldn't make anything happen on the back. I just couldn't get into a rhythm."
On what the Wolverines need to do in the final round ... "I think everyone needs to shoot par or better. I think that is very possible on this golf course. Really, 75 is an average score out here. It's not even really a great score. This golf course you can score on if you hit it into the fairway and keep it on the greens. I think everyone needs to step up and play well tomorrow."
NOTES
• Bess Bowers' three-under 69 in the third round of the NCAA Championships is a career best and marks just the second time she has fired a round under par. Her previous best and only other round under par was a 71 in the second round of the Hawkeye Invitational (April 13-14, 2002).
• Bowers became just the fifth U-M player to fire a single round under the 70-stroke barrier with her three-under 69 in the third round of the NCAA Championships. Earlier this season, Kim Benedict (first round, Shootout at the Legends), LeAnna Wicks (first round, Hawkeye Invitational) and Laura Olin (second round, Hawkeye Invitational) all set the Michigan record for lowest single-round total with rounds of 68. Cortney Reno (Grosse Ile, Mich./Grosse Ile HS) shot the school's first sub-70 round in the third round of the 2000 Shootout of the Legends (Oct. 9-10, 2000) with a 69.
• Bowers' 69 is also the lowest round and second under-par score ever by a Wolverine in an NCAA event. Misia Lemanski had the previous low round with a one-under 71 in the second round of the NCAA Championships.
• Michigan's third-round 299 tied its second best postseason team total and marks just the third time the Wolverines have broken 300 in the postseason. U-M tallied a 299 in the second round of the NCAA Championships. U-M had the lowest team total of 294 in the third round of the 2002 NCAA Central Regional (May 11).
Players Mentioned
