Chipping and Putting with Molly Spalding
9/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
After two tournaments in the fall season, the Wolverines have come away with two team victories. The depth has been the key factor for the Maize and Blue this season and there is no better example than Molly Spalding. Despite playing as an individual in those first two tournaments, Spalding has raised some eyebrows with her performances as she continues to push for a spot in the starting lineup.
At the Lady Northern Invitational, she shattered her career-best 54-hole tournament total after tallying a 230 at the Lady Northern Invitational. Her prior best was a 246 at the 2003 Wolverine Invitational. During the her rounds, she tied a career-best single round performance with a 74 in the third round, lowering her previous best score of 77 by three strokes that she recorded twice.
But some of those stats only lasted six days as Spalding set a new career-best single round score of 73 in the second round of the Mary Fossum Invitational. In addition, she set a new career best with a tie for ninth showing.
As she continues to hit her stride on the course, Spalding took a few minutes to reflect on the start of her season and how she got started in the game of golf.
On the start of her season
Everything has been paying off over the last two years. I worked very hard over the summer and now I am out here practicing everyday with the team, and I am kind of getting the lineup. It feels like everything is starting to pay off. I know what I need to work on and I'm working on it.
On not always getting into the starting lineup
It has been difficult, but we have such a great and deep team. I just want to earn my spot. I think to get in the starting lineup you just have to get the job done. If you have a bad hole, that's not going to ruin your whole round, you can get it back. You just have to think I have nine more holes to go. So don't focus on the bad whole because then you just give up and you don't play well. You just know you have room to make up for that. That is what I have been focusing on.
On the closeness of the team
I feel this year more than any other, we are really close. My freshman year, we had a big class. So all of us know each other really well and we know Laura (Olin) well. Last year, with the freshman we got close to them really quick. I don't know what the difference was but maybe we just got along better. It's the same thing with the freshman this year. It seems like everyone's a lot closer early on. Before it took half the season before we got close, and now everyone gets along.
On knowing how to fix her on course mistakes
After five years I know that when I'm hitting a certain way, I know what it is. I know I'm coming a little too much over the top. I kind of knew that because it happened repeatedly, but I never knew what needed to be done to fix that. So now if I walk up to a tee and I pull back my drives I know that I'm just not following through with it so I just do it on the next one.
On how she got started in golf
My parents used to golf all the time. I played basketball and volleyball in high school. Then my freshman year in high school our high school started a women's golf team for the first time, and I didn't do anything else in the spring. So my parents were always telling me that I should play golf, and I did. My first tournament freshman year nine holes I think I shot a 79. Then two weeks later I was shooting low fifties then mid-forties. It was really fun!
On golf becoming her favorite sport
It's definitely my favorite sport. I quit playing volleyball sophomore year, and I quit playing basketball junior year. And senior year I was just playing golf.
On her favorite thing about golf
It's all you. In basketball, when you play post, if the point guard doesn't pass it to you, it may not be something I'm doing; they may just not want to pass it to you. But here, if I'm not doing well or something's not going right, it's all me.
On if she were to play an additional sport at Michigan
It would be basketball because I'm tall and I like to shoot; I've always been a shooter. I still play with my roommates and my friends at the IM building.
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