NCAA Championships Journal: Senior Bess Bowers

Friday, May 24

After leading the Wolverines at the NCAA Championships with a school-record 72-hole tournament total of 291, senior Bess Bowers reflects on her national tournament experience and her four years as a Wolverine.

This has been an amazing season capped off with a great trip to the NCAA Championships. If anyone would have told me that we would have finished off the year 17th in the country, I would have never believed it.

We had great conditions today, so it was good scoring. The wind didn't really pick up until the back nine, so I was really excited. I just kept my momentum on the front nine from yesterday and made a bunch of putts. I think I had 10 putts on that side. I bogeyed my first hole, because I didn't hit it very well off the tee and just got in trouble. Then I knocked it close on the next hole and then the third hole, No. 12, I made a 20-footer, and I was kind of laughing, because I didn't think I had any chance to go at it and I made it. The same thing happened on my fourth hole, No. 13. I made another 20-footer and figured that this was just luck. I just kept hitting it close to the pin and made a five-footer for birdie on 16, but then missed one on 17. It was just one of those days where sometimes you make everything. On the back nine, I didn't make anything, although I hit every green, and just kind of ho-hummed my way around.

This was my last competitive round of golf, so there was no pressure on me at all, or at least I didn't feel it. I just wanted to go out there and have fun and enjoy my last round of golf. I wanted to just make it good for our team, because we wanted to finish higher than what we were expected.

This has been a wonderful team and it's been great to be a part of it. I want to thank each of my teammates for being an inspiration to me. Each and every player has been a leader in her own right. It means so much to me to share this experience with the other three seniors -- Cort (Cortney Reno), Meesh (Misia Lemanski) and Elle (LeAnna Wicks) -- and Kim (Benedict) who have been here since the beginning and have worked extremely hard to gain the recognition for our program.

Thank you, Coach Teichert, for bringing us together and a big thank you goes out to the members of the team who aren't here but who have supported us all along. More thank yous go out to the Athletic Department, our parents and especially SID Tom Wywrot and FOX Sports who have supported us whether we were 10th in the Big Ten of 17th in the country.

For my friends across the country, thanks also for all the encouraging and positive phone calls and emails. We wouldn't be here without your support!

I look forward to seeing what great success everyone accomplishes in the future. It's been fun. I am ready to move on. Good luck and thank you. I wouldn't have wanted to share this experience with a different group of people. I love you guys!

Go Blue!

Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423

University of Michigan Athletics

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