Chipping and Putting with Amy Schmucker
9/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
The accolades kept piling up for the team. Trophies were filling the showcase. Still, Amy Schmucker wasn't satisfied. She wasn't playing the way she wanted to. She wasn't playing up to her expectations. After an errant shot or a missed putt she would get down on herself or think about the miss on the next shot. The stresses started to build and her confidence was shaken.
Then she met Greg Harden in the winter of 2004. As the Director the Athletic Counseling, she sought him out, just to talk with someone. It changed her life. She talked, she listened, and she learned how to deal with the little things. It changed her entire approach to the game. She laughed at mistakes, she concentrated on her goals and her role and she was having fun.
The results showed immediately. In the spring of 2005, she won her first collegiate tournament at the Central District Classic and helped the Wolverines to their fourth NCAA Regional appearance in five years. When all was said and done, she finished her junior season with career bests in almost every statistical category.
Her confidence continued to show throughout the summer as she qualified for two of the major events on the summer docket -- the U.S. Women's Amateur and the U.S. Women's Public Links. In both events, she kept up with the competition and advanced to match-play in both events.
As the summer drew to a close, she came back to Ann Arbor, knowing it was her last season, knowing the Wolverines had depth. She was ready to become the full-time leader and to close out her career in style. No longer worrying about her swing and round score, she worries now about finding room for another trophy.
With the season right around the corner, Schmucker took some time to talk about her growth as a person and player, as well as her thoughts on the Wolverines season and expectations.
On the team being ready to start tournament play
"I think having the first tournament later for us is going to be a plus because last year we started the first weekend of school and had to play right away. Now, we've had some time to get settled in and just really focus on our game. I feel like everyone's getting anxious to play a tournament again because it's hard to practice and get the same thoughts or momentum in your practice than in a tournament. So I think we're ready to get back in some tournament action."
On the evolution of her game
"My first two and a half years here, I was kind of disappointed in my play. The reason I was so disappointed is I really felt like I could be a better player than I was posting. I worked a lot with Greg Harden on my mental game and I realized that that was the key barrier that was blocking me from achieving the success I wanted. I just needed to put things behind me. Bad shots here, or bad scores, I just had to put them behind me. I worked with him all last winter.
"In the fall, halfway through the season, I started to play really well and kept building on those key things we were working on throughout the winter. Right out of the gate in the spring winning the first tournament (Central District Classic) I really just got a lot of confidence back in my game. That carried over into the summer where I really felt like I was starting to shoot the scores that I always thought I was capable of doing. It's been a big evolution process for me but I really feel like I still have more to go because I'm just starting to learn what I'm capable of."
On her relationship with Greg Harden
"Greg really changed my life. It wasn't so much how I approached my attitude on the golf course, but life in general. I just don't let little things bother me as much as I used to. I just brush things off. Even on the golf course I was just really over critical of myself. I'd be on the first hole and if things didn't go well I felt like I was getting myself set for some disastrous day. I feel like now if I mess up the first hole I know it's not a big deal at all. It used to bother me, but it's just not a big deal at all anymore. The stuff that we work on is just so basic and easy that it's almost common sense but it just needed to be drilled in my head. He just really got it in there."
On her summer success helping her in the fall
"As far as confidence, it definitely does. I came into Michigan really having aspirations to turn pro. And after those first two years I felt like I was just getting washed away in a shuffle of great players. But this summer, at the U.S. Amateur, I shot 70 and was the leader in the clubhouse after the morning groups. That was by far the hardest golf course I have played and shooting 70 being near the top was great. Even Morgan Pressel shot even. I was ahead of her. It just really showed me that right now when I'm at my peak, I can't compete at their level. So if I can just keep building on the things I've been working on and improving more. I'm kind of thinking of LPGA dreams again. So it's kind of nice to have those aspirations again."
On her taking Laura Olin's role as a leader
"The confidence I built over the summer definitely makes me feel more of a leader now. Last year in the fall when things weren't going well and I was taken as an individual to a tournament, I know that didn't really affect my leadership skills, but at the same time, how can you be a leader and not have come for your starting team. That goes through your mind even though it really shouldn't. Being a good lead doesn't mean that you're necessarily on the field, or a starter. You can be a great leader off the field. I like to be a girl that the younger players can ask for advice on their game and things like that. That for sure has helped me believe my leadership skills are improving.
"As far as trying to replace Laura Olin, she's really just one of a kind. She was a captain since she was a sophomore, which kind of says a lot about her. But we're also different people. So I don't think I'll ever be the leader she was just because I'm a different person. I try to be more vocal because she definitely left a big void when she left. She was always one to speak up and get things done. Kim Benedict was just leading by example and Laura was more vocal. So it's kind of like I like to put in a good work ethic at practice, but also when things aren't going well I will speak up. I'm kind of a mix between the two."
On finding this year's fifth and sixth lineup players
"To be honest, we have no idea who the fifth and sixth players will be. In fact, the entire starting group is still an unknown. We have some starters returning, but we still have to earn our spots in the lineup. That is what is special about this team. We got really deep over the summer. The scores are just coming closer and closer throughout the roster and that is a positive. It creates a good competition. So I don't really know who our fifth and sixth player is going to be. I don't know who the first or second player is going to be. So I think everyone's going to be incredibly strong this year. That will only help us."
On if depth will be problematic in increasing competition among the team
"I don't think it will be a problem. If you look at our men's team, they have such great attitudes. I know that they get jabs on their success, or lack of it in the last couple years, but they started off better this year. There have spots on the line again and the guys I was talking to that didn't play well last year are all so excited that they are on the bubble, because they think that they will be much better this year. They have to compete to make the lineup. I think that is the attitude our team needs. Everyone wants to be in the lineup, but it is so beneficial to the team [that we are competing for spots]. I am so happy that it is this close because the past couple days I put extra hours in. My spot was on the line and I need to step up, and that just makes you into a better player. I am excited about the competition, but I don't know if everyone else is going to feel that way."
On expectations for the coming year
"I believe our team needs to talk a little more about expectations, now that I think about it, but we have done team goals. I definitely think after we beat Ohio State twice in the regular season, then to be beat on our home turf so badly at Big Tens wasn't our best moment, but a lot of that was due to weather. I think Big Ten Championship is running through all our minds. I think it is something that all of us want so much. Obviously we want to go to the regional and then to nationals, but we have to be smart in our thinking. None of us on the team presently have been to nationals; Laura was the only one last year to have gone. I think we all got a little taste of it at the regional, and we realized that it is a big deal to get to the regional and play well.
"So this year when we go to the regional, we are going to have the experience of already being there and I think we will be able to handle the pressure a lot better. I think we have the caliber team to get there; I think we are really good this year. So the priority is Big Ten title and move forward from there. I don't think we have to worry about our ranking as far as the regional goes, but I think because of the order in which the tournaments fall, I think everyone is going to be focused on the Big Ten, and once that is clenched, then I think we are going to have to readjust our goals and get focused for the other important tournaments that fall not too long after."
On her final year playing for the Wolverines
"I try not to think that this could be the end. In the past I have seen seniors put so much pressure on themselves. I wrote [as goals] 'Have fun' and there is another small goal, but I know when I am playing well I am having the time of my life. So I just don't want to be overstressed. If I am having fun enjoying my senior year, my low scores are just going to come. I didn't want to write down anything to add pressure, to be All-Big Ten or anything like that. But when I am having fun, everything seems to fall into place."
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
