Weekly Release #1
9/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Upcoming Schedule
Sat-Sun., Sept. 16-17 -- at Lady Northern Invitational (East Lansing, Mich.)
Sat-Sun., Sept. 30-Oct. 1 -- host Wolverine Intercollegiate (U-M Golf Course)
On the Tee: Starting the Season
The University of Michigan women's golf team will waste no time getting into the 2006-07 season as the Wolverines will head to East Lansing, Mich., Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 16-17) for the 2006 Lady Northern Invitational. The tournament will be held at Forest Akers West Golf Course, which will be the host site for the 2007 Big Ten Championships. The field will also have 10 of the 11 Big Ten schools in attendance. The 54-hole tournament will have 12 total teams in the field playing 36 holes Saturday (Sept. 16) and a final 18 Sunday (Sept. 17). Forest Akers West Course will be set up for a par 72 and 6,237 yards.
The Tournament Field
The Lady Northern Invitational features 12 teams in the field and will include: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kent State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Toledo and Wisconsin.
The Tournament Schedule
The Lady Northern Invitational will consist of 54 holes, 36 of which will be played on Saturday (Sept. 16) followed by 18 on Sunday (Sept. 17).
| Date | Round | Times |
| Friday, Sept. 15 | Practice Round | Tee times throughout the day |
| Saturday, Sept. 16 | First Round | 9:00 a.m. (shotgun start) |
| | Second Round | continous play following first round |
| Sunday, Sept. 17 | Final Round | 8:30 a.m. (shotgun start) |
The Tournament Scoring Format
Scoring for the Lady Northern Invitational will be six players, count the low four scores each round. Selected teams will have invited individuals.
Follow the Tournament Live
The 2006 Lady Northern Invitational will be carried live through the Internet. Fans can follow all the tournament action live through the Golfstat website.
The Michigan Lineup
The Wolverines will carry six players to the Lady Northern Invitational. With qualifying leading right up to the tournament, the Wolverine squad will be determined throughout the week. Competing for a starting sport include: senior Brianna Broderick (Richmond, Mo./Richmond HS), senior Ali Stinson (Penticton, British Columbia/Penticton Secondary), senior/junior Julie Inwood (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea HS), junior Lindsay Davis (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS), junior Isabelle Gendreau (St. Georges de Beauce, Quebec/Saint Andrew's School), sophomore Lydia Bentez Coln (Dorado, Puerto Rico/Pendleton School), redshirt-sophomore Rose Cassard (East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids HS), freshman Ashley Bauer (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc HS) and freshman Andrea Ratigan (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino HS).
Fall Schedule Offers Early Challenges
The 2006 fall season continues to host several early challenges for the Wolverines. Opening with the 2006 Lady Northern Invitational (Sept. 16-17), the Maize and Blue will play against 10 of the 11 conference squads in an early preview of the site of the 2007 Big Ten Championships -- Forest Akers West. The Wolverines will host the Wolverine Invitational (Sept. 30-Oct. 1), which will be a preview of the 2007 NCAA Central Regional, which U-M will be hosting. Following the home tournament, U-M will head to Knoxville, Tenn., and play in the prestigious Mercedes-Benz Classic (Oct. 13-15) at Cherokee Country Club. The Maize and Blue close out October with a trip to Wilmington, N.C., for the 2006 Landfall Tradition. The fall season concludes with a trip to Hawaii over Thanksgiving and Purdue's Aloha Purdue Collegiate Invitational (Nov. 22-23).
Continuing the Postseason Trend
With the start of the 2006-07 season, the Wolverines will be looking to keep their postseason successes rolling. In five of the last six years, Michigan has had a team or an individual representative get invited to an NCAA Regional. In fact, this year the Maize and Blue will host the 2007 NCAA Central Regional at the U-M Golf Course in mid-May. In addition to the NCAA success, the Wolverines have also finished among the top five at the Big Ten Championships in five of the last six years as well, including the program's best finish ever closing as the runner-up in 2005. U-M has also had at least one player be named an All-Big Ten Golfer the last three straight years.
Davis Wins Michigan Amateur Championship
Lindsay Davis highlighted the 2006 summer for the Maize and Blue as she won the 90th Michigan Women's Amateur Championship in mid-July at Barton Hills Country Club in Ann Arbor. With the win, Davis became the fourth Wolverine to win the Michigan Amateur championship. She joins Elaine Crosby (1981), Erica Zonder (1991) and Kim Benedict (1999, 2001, '03) as Wolverines to win the title. After several battles during match play she advanced to the championship match to face defending champion and current Michigan State Spartan Mandi McConnell. In the championship, Davis took an early two-hole lead and never really looked back as she held off any of McConnell's comeback attempts to win the 90th Michigan Women's Amateur title 4 and 2.
Golf Digest Ranks Wolverines Among Top 50 Programs
Earlier this summer, the Wolverines were named one of the NCAA's 50 Best Colleges for Women's Golf according to the September issue of Golf Digest, which is highlighted with the second annual College Golf Guide. The Wolverines received a No. 38 ranking on the prestigious list. The Maize and Blue joins three other Big Ten programs honored as the NCAA's best golf institutions: Ohio State (No. 18), Purdue (No. 36) and Michigan State (No. 46).
Bauer, Ratigan Join Wolverine Program
The 2006-07 Wolverines will have two new additions to the roster as Ashley Bauer and Andrea Ratigan join the Maize and Blue fold. Bauer, a 2005 MHSSA Super Team member, used her 2005 Michigan High School State individual medalist honor to help Grand Blanc High School win its second straight Michigan State Division I team championship. Ratigan, who has played at three different high schools in her career, won two Arizona State High School 4A individual medalist honors (2002, '03) while playing at Rincon/University High School and member of Arizona State High School State 4A championship team (2004) while playing at Catalina Foothills High School.
Seniors Continue to Be Lineup Staples
By playing in the 2006 Big Ten Championships, Brianna Broderick and Ali Stinson played in their 35th straight tournaments for the Maize and Blue. The duo has yet to miss a tournament in their career. Former Wolverine Laura Olin set the U-M record playing in 50 consecutive tournaments in her career.
Core Set to Return
The Wolverines return three of their top five starters returning from a year ago -- Ali Stinson, Lindsay Davis and Brianna Broderick. Stinson closed out last season averaging a career-best 76.79 strokes per round, while Davis followed averaging nearly four strokes better than her career best as he shot 77.55 per round last season. Broderick closed out her season averaging 78.42, giving her three straight seasons of averaging below 80 strokes per round. As a team, Michigan shot 305.30 per round, which was the third best all-time in the Wolverine record book.
Inwood Ready To Continue Upward Swings
After redshirting her freshman season and playing in one tournament her second season, Julie Inwood cracked the Wolverine lineup seven times last season with three starts, including playing at the 2006 Big Ten Championships. She averaged a career-best 81.19 strokes per round and shot a career-best 74 in the first round of the Big Tens.
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
