Michigan
Lady Northern Invitational
Schmucker's Top-10 Finish Leads U-M at Lady Northern
9/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Site:Â Bloomington, Ind.
Course:Â IU Golf Course (par 72, 6,142 yards)
Tournament: Lady Northern Invitational
U-M Finish:Â 6th Place of 12 Teams (296-312-308/916)
Top U-M Individual:Â Amy Schmucker, tie-7th (73-74-73/220)
Next U-M Event: Sat-Sun., Oct. 1-2 -- host Wolverine Invitational (U-M Golf Course)
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- With rain and windy conditions wreaking havoc all weekend long, the University of Michigan women's golf team battled through worsening weather conditions in the final round to finish sixth today (Sunday, Sept. 25) at the 2005 Lady Northern Invitational at the IU Golf Course.
The Maize and Blue got off to a strong start in Saturday's first round, posting a 296 putting this into third. As weather conditions gradually got worse, the Wolverines struggled in the second round tallying a 312 dropping them into a tie for seventh heading into the final round of play. The Wolverines rallied in the third round despite rain and wind in the final round totaling a 308 to move them into sole possession of sixth place with a 916 54-hole total.
The Wolverines were led by senior Amy Schmucker (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori HS) for the second straight tournament as she tied for seventh overall with a four-over 220 performance. Schmucker sandwiched two one-over 73s around a two-over 74 to get her second straight top 15 finish. She maintained a consistent performance through out the weekend as 10 bogeys were erased with six birdies throughout the weekend.
Junior Ali Stinson (Penticton, B.C./Penticton Secondary) tied for 19th with a solid 226 three-round total. She led off the tournament with steady play, carding back-to-back four-over 76s in day one before a two-over 74 moved her up seven spots in the leaderboard for her 10th career top-20 performance.
Sophomore Lindsay Davis (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) opened the tournament with a career-best-tying even-par 72, but found struggles in round two with an 80. She wasn't able to bounce back in the third round, posting an 82 to tie for 38th with a 234 total.
Other Wolverine finishes included: sophomore Isabelle Gendreau (St. Georges de Beauce, Quebec/Saint Andrew's School [Boca Raton, Fla.]) tied for 47th with a 236 total (75-82-79), junior Brianna Broderick (Richmond, Mo./Richmond HS) tied for 65th with a 245 total (78-82-85) and junior/sophomore Julie Inwood (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea HS) tied for 73rd with a 254 total (85-83-86).
Overall, Purdue led the Lady Northern from start to finish, carding rounds of 288, 286 and 293 to finish the tournament three-over 867 tournament total, which was 20 strokes ahead of second-place Michigan State (298-294-295/887). Penn State was third at 984 (293-296-305).
Individually, Purdue's Maria Hernandez (70-71-73) and Illinois State's Samantha Richdale (72-69-73) shared medalist honors after each posted two-under 214 54-hole totals. Notre Dame's Noriko Nakazaki was third with a 215 54-hole total (70-74-71).
The Wolverines return home for their next tournament, hosting the 2005 Wolverine Invitational, Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 1-2) at the U-M Golf Course. The 54-hole tournament will have 36 holes played Saturday followed with a final 18 on Sunday. The U-M Golf Course will be set up for a par 72 and 5,966 yards.
Team Standings
1. Purdue 288-286-293 = 867 2. Michigan State 298-294-295 = 887 3. Penn State 293-296-305 = 894 4. Notre Dame 303-296-304 = 903 5. Indiana 307-297-305 = 909 6. MICHIGAN 296-312-308 = 916 7. Northwestern 312-300-305 = 917 8. Illinois 314-301-304 = 919 9. Illinois State 304-304-312 = 920 10. Iowa 300-302-323 = 925 11. Wisconsin 313-304-316 = 933 12. Minnesota 313-310-311 = 934
Top Individuals
1. Maria Hernandez, Purdue 70-71-73 = 214
Samantha Richdale, ISU 72-69-73 = 214
3. Noriko Nakazaki, Notre Dame 70-74-71 = 215
4. Myrte Eikenaar, Purdue 73-73-71 = 217
Onnarin Sattayabanphot, Purdue 73-71-73 = 217
6. Amber Weinerth, Penn State 71-74-74 = 219
7. AMY SCHMUCKER, U-M 73-74-73 = 220
Christel Boeljon, Purdue 72-72-76 = 220
9. Sara Brown, MSU 74-73-74 = 221
Mandi McConnell, MSU 73-75-73 = 221
Other Michigan Individuals
T19. Ali Stinson 76-76-74 = 226 T38. Lindsay Davis 72-80-82 = 234 T47. Isabelle Gendreau 75-82-79 = 236 T65. Brianna Broderick 78-82-85 = 245 T73. Julie Inwood 85-83-86 = 254
Q U O T E S
Michigan Coach Kathy Teichert
On the weekend's performance ... "This tournament gave us a good indication of the competition in the Big Ten this year. At the same time, it just goes to show you that any team can beat anyone on any given day in any given tournament. Despite the weather, we had a lot of positives come out of this tournament. We had a great first round with a 296, but fell behind a little in the second round. The third round we were right there, but just fell off a bit. Some was due to the rain and winds, but some we did ourselves. We're just going to have to regroup, practice and be ready to go next week. I've got confidence that our players are capable of beating any team - we just have to get consistent with it."
On having a home advantage in the Wolverine Intercollegiate ... "There's no question it's a huge advantage as it is for any team playing at home. But we're not going to go in saying it's easy to win our tournament. There is a lot of great competition coming in and it's really anyone's to win. We are just going to have to be at our best to win just like we have to be to win any tournament."
Senior Amy Schmucker
On what the team needs to do to improve ... "I think looking back on it, it's the same situation as the last tournament. It's early right now. I would like to see some lower scores at practice to see some confidence going up. I think we are playing well in tournaments having not played under tournament conditions in awhile and we have to put up some better qualifying scores in order to boost our confidence. I feel that if we put up some better practice scores, that experience will carry over into a tournament setting."
On her play ... "I'm playing consistent but I definitely left a few shots out there. I've been grinding it out alright, but I've been struggling with my swing. Every shot feels like it's taking so much work to hit straight. I feel that for me to hit some low numbers I'm going to really have to work on my swing a lot over the next week. I need to try to make it easier on myself so I can put more focus on sinking those birdie putts."
On the home tournament ... "I'm really excited with the home tournament this weekend because what we need right now is confidence. I think if we can get on our own course and put some good numbers up and win our tournament, the confidence will carry over. We will know we have the talent to shoot low numbers and it will carry us to the next tournament."
N O T E S
• Amy Schmucker's 54-hole, four-over 220 total at the 2005 Lady Northern Invitational is second best tally in her career. Schmucker's career best tournament total was an even-par 216 performance at the Central District Classic (Feb. 21-22, 2005).
• With her tie for seventh at the 2005 Lady Northern Invitational, Amy Schmucker has now led the Wolverines in two straight tournaments. She has finsihed as the top Wolverine in five career events.
• Lindsay Davis matched her career-best single-round total with an even-par 72 in the first round of the 2005 Lady Northern Invitational. Davis recorded her first 72 in the Mary Fossum Invitational (Sept. 17-18) when she carded a career-best 54-hole total with a 234.
• By playing in the 2005 Lady Northern Invitational, Amy Schmucker has played in 38 straight tournaments for the Maize and Blue, while Brianna Broderick and Ali Stinson have played in 36 straight tournaments for the Maize and Blue.
Players Mentioned
