Chipping and Putting, U-M Men's Golf Blog

>> Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007 -- The Wolverines kicked off their fall season last weekend with a rain-shortened victory at Purdue's Midwest Shootout. However, just two days later the Maize and Blue's trip to Toledo's Inverness Intercollegiate proved to be not as successful as U-M wanted.

Catching with U-M coach Andrew Sapp at his office preparing for practice, he took some time to reflect on the weekend's events.

Sapp on the reflections of the opening weekend: "It was great to win at Purdue because it is the golf course where the national championship will be held this year. Especially to have Tim (Schaetzel) and Bill (Rankin) tie as individual champion ... that was tremendous. It might have been nice to have a week to enjoy the victory and get some good practice in before our next event, but we also felt that after winning we would roll into Inverness with a lot of confidence. Unfortunately we just got off to a very horrible start in the first round at Inverness. When you start poorly, a lot of times confidence wanes, you question your own ability sometimes, and I think that happened a little bit. We started playing a little bit scared and tentative, and out there if you are not hitting the ball well there are places you are going to make bogeys very easily. I am disappointed in our finish, obviously, at Inverness, because we can't afford to shoot scores like 78s and 79s. We need to be shooting scores much lower than that if we are going to be competing against any teams, really, but especially against that field."

Sapp on the level of competition at Inverness: "If you want to see how your team stacks up against the best teams in the country, the only way you are going to do that is to play them. So I think it was kind of an eye-opener for us; I think we had a great practice session yesterday and team meeting where we talked about things and talked about our expectations and what we need to do from here-on. So hopefully it will wake us up to working hard this week and next week in preparation for our tournament at Wolf Run."

Sapp on if the quick start of school affected play: "I don't think it really affects anything. I mean, we played well at Purdue and that was just four days after school had started. So I don't think you can make excuses for the poor play we did at Inverness. It definitely left a bad taste in my mouth, especially after winning a tournament and coming and playing miserably. I think we can use it as a motivator to really work hard and correct our errors and our flaws and our golf swings and short game and go out and try to win at Wolf Run. I think the good thing about Purdue's tournament, is that our guys have proven to themselves, even in a rain-shortened event, we can win. That is the positive we take from this weekend, but it also shows us that we're not focused well as individuals and if we don't play well as individuals we can finish close to last like we did at Inverness. We are always going to try to play against the national field so we can measure ourselves up against those teams and I am looking forward to playing a great competitive event really soon, and hopefully that will be in Indianapolis."

Sapp on keeping confident: "A good example I would say is Brian (Ottenweller) got off to a tough start in the first round and he had been playing well all summer and he walked up to me after about six or seven holes and said he just did not know where it was going. I basically said to him, look for the middle of the fairway, aim for it, and swing. Don't worry about where it is going to go. Just let your natural ability and your natural swing take over. He played a little better since then throughout the tournament. A lot of time when you start worrying about where it is going to go, that is where you are going to paralyze yourself as opposed to just trusting in your swing and trusting what you have worked on all summer and early fall; that will take it where you want it to go."

Sapp on the differences between the individual golfers: "Definitely. In an individual sport it is always going to be that way. Some guys need a pat on the back, some guys need a kick in the behind. You need to try to get a feel for your team and the players and what they need and act accordingly."

Coming off the practice range, senior co-captain Tim Schaetzel took some time to also reflect on the weekend. Overall, he echoed most of the comments from coach Sapp about the Wolverines opening weekend.

Schaetzel on the events of the past weekend: "It was a real high at first. We went out, Bill (Rankin) and I, and even Lion (Kim) especially played pretty solid and the other two guys were able to fight through when they weren't having it as much and we were, but we still were able to pull out a good win. We still would have liked to have played all 36 holes, but an 18-hole win is still a win. Inverness was very disappointing, more than anything. That is the best word to describe it. We felt like we were playing pretty well, we had a good summer and were really excited to get a chance to go play. We just did not bring our 'A' game. It was a little frustrating but we tried to channel that frustration into taking it out on the practice rounds this week."

Schaetzel on using the pitfalls to the team's advantage in the future: "We need to make sure everybody is truly committed and ready to really work this year. We have the talent now to compete and we have to understand that we have the talent and embrace that. We have to utilize what we have. It is going to take practice and hard work. We need to keep fighting even when things are bad right now. We talked about how we got whooped in some respects this weekend but one bad week does not make us a bad team. We have another event coming up that will have a good shot at winning with a solid field on another difficult golf course. I am really excited and I think we are all really excited about getting back out onto the golf course and to show that we really are a good team. This (Inverness) was a fluke. Purdue was not a fluke."

Schaetzel on recovering quickly from disappointment: "We are trying to focus our energy and channel our anger now into productive results instead of getting down on ourselves. We showed at Purdue we can play. There were some good teams there, Arizona is a good team, Purdue is a good team, I can't remember everyone that was there, but we beat some good teams, and we need to go out and show each week that we are one of those good teams to beat. We need to start establishing ourselves as a presence."

>> With the start to the school year and playing in his first two collegiate events, Lion Kim took a moment to talk about the ups and downs of his first week.

Kim on his first collegiate event: "Since it was my first collegiate tournament I wanted to start off well. Coach (Sapp) put me in the lineup for a reason. I was happy I performed okay for the first tournament not knowing the golf course; I did not get to do the practice round. I expected a lot at Inverness since I was able to do a practice round. But honestly it was the worst golf tournament week I have had in probably three years. It was my first time not feeling confident with my golf swing. I am usually pretty confident with my game, but that week at Inverness, I just did not know what was going on. But in college golf, you can always depend on your teammates too, when you are not playing well, and I was actually hoping the other guys were playing well. None of us really played well because some guys said it didn't really fit their game. Overall, bottom line, we played badly."

Kim on regaining confidence: "Just practice. Go out there, try to get the good feeling back. Each day, the more you practice, the more confident you get. I don't want to make this an excuse, but since I arrived here, I have just been getting used to college, not just golf. The college campus, things around it ... getting used to dorm life, stuff like that. It was a big transition. I am confident that things will improve. It was just the first two tournaments, we need to think positively. We had a win in our first tournament, so obviously we are off to a good start, and the season is far from over. We have a lot of tournaments ahead of us and we have a really good line-up this year and I am looking forward for this year to be on of our best."

>> Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007 -- Final preparations were being made for the Wolverines opening weekend of play at Purdue (Sept. 8) and Toledo (Sept. 10-11). Today was a scheduled "off" day, but it did not matter as there were plenty of guys at the U-M Golf Course fine tuning and working on their games before they head out later in the day for West Lafayette, Ind.

Michigan coach Andrew Sapp was in his office making his final plans, along with assistant coach Chris Whitten. He took a moment to share his thoughts on the start of his sixth season with the Wolverines.

Sapp on opening the season with two straight tournaments: "We are getting off to a fast and furious start definitely. It is great because we are coming off a summer where our guys played really well. These guys in the starting line-up, four of them went to the U.S. Amateur and played in the biggest competition for amateur golf in the world a couple of weeks ago. So, they should be ready. We wish school would have started a few weeks ago, so we would have had more time to practice and do other things together as a team, but they are ready. They have been working hard on their own before they got to school. So, we are excited to get started."

Sapp on playing on familiar ground: "We are excited to go down and play at Purdue because, obviously, it is the course that will host the national championship. We want our guys to play that golf course as much as possible. Even for Tim (Schaetzel) and Brian (Ottenweller), it is probably the collegiate golf course they have played the most, other than Michigan. They have both played there in three invitationals and this will be their fourth. So, it is exciting to see that and what they will be able to do being familiar with the course. Bill (Rankin) has played there twice and Billy (McKay) got some experience playing it last year and played fairly well. It will be good to get Lion (Kim) and Alexander (Sitompul) to get a taste of that course. If both of those guys, are one of those guys are in the line-up for the national championship, we wanted both of those guys to be familiar with the golf course before heading there in the spring."

>> Starters for the opening weekend at Purdue's 36-Hole Midwest Shootout will be:

Tim Schaetzel, starting his 28th straight tournament
Brian Ottenweller, starting his fifth straight tournament
Bill Rankin, starting his 12th straight tournament
Billy McKay, starting his seventh straight tournament
Lion Kim, making his collegiate debut and first career start
Alexander Sitompul, making his collegiate debut as an individual

The four remaining players -- Nick Pumford, Ross Millman, Michael Slovitt and David Weisfeld will continue their qualifying play with 18-hole rounds at U-M's Radrick Farms Golf Course followed by play at the U-M Golf Course this weekend.

>> Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007 C- With prep work continuing for the opening weekend, senior Tim Schaetzel was named a co-captain along with fellow senior Brian Ottenweller. Pulling him away from the practice green, which is never easy, Schaetzel talked about what it meant to be named a captain, as well as the excitement for the upcoming season.

Schaetzel on being chosen team captain: "It's a great honor to be any Wolverine captain. Being co-captains with Brian (Ottenweller) will be really fun. We have become really close over the last few years and we see eye-to-eye on a lot of leadership styles. It is a privilege and an honor to be chosen to hopefully help lead these guys to a successful season."

Schaetzel on his summer: "I worked all of June as a camp counselor at a camp for junior golf and activities in Chicago. I took some time off in June to practice on my own and took some time off for tournaments. In July I spent some time with my family and really worked on my game, took some lessons and really tried to improve my mechanics. In August I went out and got some tournament experience with the new mechanics and had some great results. I played pretty well at the Georgia State Open and the Cardinal Amateur. I was in contention at the Cardinal Amateur and almost got into contention at the (Georgia) State Open, which was fun. I played okay at the U.S. Am, not as well as I would have liked, but definitely better than last year."

Schaetzel on balancing his play this season: "The first thing I want to do is take some pressure off myself in the fall. Last fall I was trying to do a few too many things, and luckily I was just swinging so well that it didn't matter. This spring I want to just try to stay relaxed and not get caught up in thinking about how well I was playing or anything like that. I just want to try to improve every day, and if you improve every day, in the long haul you always get better."

>> Junior Bill Rankin was also on the putting green continuing to work on his game. He took a few minutes to talk about his breakout summer winning the Eastern Amateur Championship and winning a hot dog eating contest at the North and South Amateur Championship.

Rankin on his summer play highlighted by the Eastern Am win: "To close out the season last year, I really played well at the Pinehurst Intercollegiate where I putted better than anything else. However, I was pretty sluggish through the end of the spring. I made a grip change this summer and stopped working on my swing, and all of a sudden things clicked and I started feeling more confident over shots. I played with PGA Tour players Tom Lehman and Charles Warren in the U.S. Open qualifier and that was a really big boost of confidence. I ended up playing with John Cook (Ohio State) in the practice round, so he was giving me grief about my Michigan bag, but after the round he told me I was the best player to come out of Michigan that he has seen in a long time. That also really helped my confidence. Those guys made me feel like I belonged. I just took it and ran with it, I hit the ball great and I was confident and I really believed that I should be there. I played well in the Michigan Open but the Michigan Amateur was a little disappointing. In June, I was sick right before we went to North Carolina and I fought through it but I went and I played alright. The Eastern Amateur came around, but I had not played a tournament in two weeks, so I was just awful in the practice round. I went out and played an okay first round where I fought back to even par. Then I made one bogey the next 63 holes which was pretty huge for me. It was exciting to be able to play when your stomach is going and there are a bunch of people out there following us. That was really special for me; my mom was there so that was a big event and I definitely look forward to going back next summer. That will be something I remember for a long time."

Rankin on winning a hot dog eating contest: "It was something that popped up randomly down at North and South. The guy from GolfWeek (Asher Wildman) was traveling around and Brian (Ottenweller) talked to him and he conned me into it. We were trying to get Billy (McKay) into it but he just wouldn't do it. We were doing it outside this bowling alley where we had gone bowling earlier in the week, and it was pretty fun. The bun was the hardest part, it is dry and it is tough to get down. They didn't give us any water to soak the buns in. I couldn't put up 53 or 60, whatever Kobayashi did in the Nathan's competition."

[ Watch the Video from Golfweek ]

>> Before leaving, Rankin also had an observation about this year's team and the start of the season.

Rankin's parting thought: "I think guys will start to realize we have five guys that can win tournaments every week. It is not just guys that can get in the top half of the field; it is guys who are trying to win.So we are trying to beat each other as well as everyone else."

>> Freshmen Lion Kim, rated the No. 2 departing high school senior by Golfweek, and Alexander Sitompul, rated the No. 18, will both make their Michigan debuts as the Wolverines kick off the 2007 fall season at Purdue's Midwest Shootout this Saturday, followed by Toledo's Inverness Intercollegiate on Monday and Tuesday.

The freshmen duo were at the course prepping for their first tournament, but took a moment to speak about playing right away and about their expectations from the season opening weekend.

On playing right away as a freshman:

Kim: "I am really excited. I think our lineup is really strong from top to bottom. To be starting right away is special for me. All the guys played really well over the summer and that was just a huge confidence boost for us, so we are ready to go."

Sitompul: "Even though I am an individual, I am still really thrilled. As a freshman and starting right away, that is really more than good enough for me. School is pretty good, I just have a couple of classes in conflict, but other than that it is a really fun experience so far. I can't wait to play."

On any expectations they have for themselves:

Kim: "I expect of all my teammates and myself to make every shot really count; to not to give up and just think positively. If you think positively then good things will happen. I expect us to go out there and do our best and take it hole by hole."

Sitompul: "I just want to play my own game. As an individual, I really have nothing to lose; I just want to play well. I haven't played a collegiate course before so I really have nothing to worry about very much, just play."