Chipping and Putting, U-M Women's Golf Blog
9/4/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
As the 2007-08 Michigan women's golf season is here, the Wolverines are poised to make a run at not only the Big Ten title, but to qualify for their seventh NCAA Regional Appearance in the last eight years. "Chipping and Putting" will contain updates throughout the season as MGoBlue.com follows the progress of the Maize and Blue program. Check back for more updates throughout the entire season.
>> Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007 -- The Wolverines announced the travel team for Lady Northern Invitational. Traveling to Penn State for the 54-hole Big Ten Preview will be:
Ashley Bauer, starting her 13th straight tournament
Lydia Bentez Coln, starting her fifth career tournament and second straight
Lindsay Davis, starting her 29th career tournament and fourth straight
Andrea Ratigan, starting her 13th career tournament and 12th straight
Min Yean Tan, making her second career start
Katelin Davis, making her collegiate debut
>> With last week's event at Michigan State in the past, the Wolverines look forward to their upcoming Lady Northern. U-M coach Kathy Teichert took a few minutes to talk about her plans and expectations for the upcoming tournament.
Teichert on choosing her lineup for this weekend's event: "For the lineup, we had a couple girls who were exempt, Ashley (Bauer) and Lydia (Bentez Coln). Lindsay (Davis) and Andrea (Ratigan), being the upperclassmen, lead us in the top two qualifying positions. This week we will also have Min Yean (Tan) and Katelin (Davis), who is going to be getting her debut. I am anxiously awaiting to see how she (Katelin) will perform and how she will do. The last couple days have had some great practices and I think they are really excited. We have set some goals for this year and obviously every tournament we are going into we are going in with the mindset that we are going to win. I think we are excited about going into Penn State, seeing what the course is like again. It has been 10 to 11 years since I have personally been back there. I know they have made some renovations, some changes to their golf course, and it will be interesting to see what other Big Ten teams have to offer -- who they are playing, how they are playing, and what we need to do to be a force in the Big Ten."
Teichert on making improvements from last week: "We need to get off to a better start. I think our starts have been slow, even playing qualifying rounds. Even though we are practicing or warming up, we are not getting off to the start that we need and that is putting pressure on us at the end. Yes, our numbers towards the end, the last few holes are pretty solid, but it is the start that is killing us. We have got to get off to a much better start. We will probably be focusing a little bit on that. Another thing we really focused on at practice was our short game, getting up and down. Some of our players are where they should be; others are not even close to being anywhere near where we need to be to be competitive and where they need to be to shoot some lower numbers."
Teichert on playing a pre-Big Ten tournament: "It is ... but it is not. We want to go into every event doing spectacular, playing well, achieving the goals, setting the bar high and trying to take a stab at it every single round, every single day, every single shot. I don't look at it as, if we win it, I think a lot of people would say wow, Michigan has got a good team this year. I think we have a good team, I know we have a good team this year. It is always about bringing it on every day. It gives us an opportunity to see what everybody (Big Ten) has. It is like looking at any other sport, what other sport has the opportunity to see what everybody has. Purdue won't be there but we know they have a good team. Certainly the biggest test for us to see what the course is like, even just the layout and what we are going to need because in the end we will know what we are going to really focus in and work on."
>> Monday, Sept. 17, 2007 -- With the roster now set at eight members following the qualifying periods, the Wolverines took an off-day to shoot the team photo as well as other photos for the upcoming media guide.
>>With qualifying in full swing, the Wolverines are continuing to prep for the upcoming Lady Northern Invitational. Ashley Bauer and Lydia Bentez Coln are exempt from qualifying after their strong play at the Mary Fossum Invitational, leaving four spots open for the rest of the Maize and Blue to shoot for.
Katelin Davis, now an officially a member of the team, will be shooting to qualify for her first collegiate event. She took a moment to talk about what it means to be part of the Wolverines.
Davis on being asked to join the Michigan team: "It is a relief. It's exciting. It's interesting to have Lindsay as a captain and an older sister, so it's fun and I think the team chemistry is really good after tryouts. It was kind of awkward because some people were in the locker room and some weren't and some people would play good and you wouldn't want to ask the other people what they shot because you wouldn't want to step on anyone's toes. It's nice to have a solid team though and have everyone geared toward the same thing."
Davis on the relaxed atmosphere now: "Oh yeah, it's a lot better now because everyone wants their neighbor to do well now. In the beginning it was a little iffy because we were qualifying and the first people were trying out and it's nice now because we have our set team and there are no questions as to who is who and where everyone was at so now it's nice. It's definitely more of a relaxed atmosphere."
>> Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007 -- Following the Wolverines fourth-place finish at MSU's Mary Fossum Invitational, U-M coach Kathy Teichert took some time to share her thoughts about the team's performance and where the Maize and Blue need to go in order to prep for the Lady Northern Invitational at Penn State's Blue Course.
Teichert's initial thoughts on the first tournament of the season: "We had a couple days qualifying, one day of practice, a practice round in the rain and our first tournament, so it was a very hustle-and-bustle week for us. Looking back on it, starting off a little slow was probably not something we wanted, but not totally unexpected. We wanted to get off to a really good start. Starting off with 36 holes really sets the pace in any tournament that you go to, so I think that was a key. To see the improvement in each round was really great. After we got done playing 36 holes, we talked about some of the things we saw that we didn't really do that well. We thought we continued to play our Par 5s very poorly, and we have to get a handle on those. Whether it is the drives, second shots, third shots or putting, it seems to me their approach to the greens was off the mark. We've got to really zone in on our target a lot more and we've got to convert. We are missing a lot of short chips around the greens and not converting. They are putting themselves in anywhere from four to eight feet to have to save their pars and they are not making it. You'll make a few of those, but we are not consistent enough quite yet to be converting and making everything. Those were some of the things they were very evident as we played in our first event."
Teichert on descending each round: "All the golfers came back throughout the tournament. It was kind of nice to see where they are right now. We found out what things they did right, what things went wrong and what we can look to improve from this tournament. We knew some of our putting wasn't that great, some of our up and downs were not that good, and particularly our Par-5s. We just were not scoring the way a good team would score. I am encouraged though. It's just good to get out there and play again."
Teichert on the play of Lydia Bentez Coln throughout the weekend: "Lydia started off really nice, but in the second round she let things get to her. However, she came back. She brought it back and made a couple birdies in the third round and was playing really well. She then made one heck of an up and down for par on No. 3. She hit it to the left, hit a cart and it went under a tree. She had to pitch it out and got on the green and then made a 20-footer for par. So, at that point she was still one-under par with four holes to play, and closed even par. For her, after her summer play, after last year, her inconsistencies, it was so great to see her shoot par for that final round. It was a big confidence boost for her."
Teichert on the play of Ashley Bauer throughout the weekend: "Ashley got off to a tough start. She opened with a lot of doubles there in the first round, but brought it back shooting just a couple over in the second and three-over on the last day. She is going to be one of our leaders on the golf course, and we are going to expect her to be a leader on the course."
Teichert on the early success of Min Yean Tan: "It was really great to see Min Yean and what she was going to bring to her first tournament. She was coming off a change of time, change of scenery, a new place, a new atmosphere, college golf, a new team ... just everything was so new and she didn't have the routine down quite yet. She got off to a great start, probably a little quicker than she expected, which might have surprised her, but she settled into it as she went through the first day. Unfortunately for her it did not keep up as well as the third round was a little bit of a struggle. She did not have anything going momentum-wise, but she got threw it. She just has such a great attitude."
Teichert on getting some early tests against some Big Ten teams: "After the first two rounds, being in sixth place, I wasn't really that happy. However, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel later that night, where we were not that far out of fourth if we put something together. I told the girl's if we did that we can at least move up to fourth. Any time we can shoot 300 and below I think we are doing well. We did that and I couldn't have been happier. But there was a mix of good teams in field, especially some Big Ten teams. Michigan State is a good team and Indiana has everybody back from last year; they didn't graduate anyone, so they are another year ahead in experience. It was nice to pull out a one-stroke advantage on Iowa and Illinois didn't play as well, but I can see there could be a lot of parody in the Big Ten again this year. If we all come together in each tournament and just really try to play our games and not really worry about what the other teams do, but focus in on our team our success, and the little things we need to do to be better, we will be able to go far and compete for a Big Ten title."
>> In other news from the U-M Golf Course, Teichert announced freshman Katelin Davis will officially walk onto the team. Katelin is the younger sister of senior captain Lindsay. In addition, the walk-on tryout period was extended for Jennifer Cleary (East Lansing, Mich.) and Susan Kennedy (Ann Arbor, Mich.). Both players will have additional qualifying rounds to see if they will get an invitation to walk onto the team.
>> Monday, Sept. 10, 2007 -- Michigan returned home from Michigan State's Mary Fossum Invitational with a solid fourth-place team finish. Junior co-captain Lydia Bentez Coln closed the tournament with a career-best performance helping lead U-M in the opening event.
With an off day scheduled on Monday from the course, Bentez Coln took the morning to get some studying in at the Stephen M. Ross Academic Center, but spared a moment to share her thoughts on the start of the season and her play at Forest Akers.
Bentez Coln on the team's play on the opening tournament: "We started off a little rusty in the first round. Then it seemed like we got better with every round, so that was something that we were excited about throughout the weekend. I was excited to see the freshmen do so well, especially Yeany (Min Yean Tan), who shot a 74 in the second round putting her in our No. 1 spot for the final round. It was also encouraging to see Louisa's (Shu) 77 in the final round. She made improvements throughout the weekend. Overall, we improved. We were rusty, but we will continue to work hard and try to keep improving for the rest of the season. Overall, it was a good start."
Bentez Coln on her play throughout the weekend: "I was really excited to start off with the 75 in the first round to help lead the team. The second round was obviously a disappointment. The greens got really slow from the first to the second round and it seemed that I just could not adjust to the speed. I just kept three-putting and three-putting. It was great to comeback in the third round; I really putted much, much better. I just decided to come in with a good attitude that morning of the final round. I didn't want the second round to effect me because I wanted to shoot a low round for the team. I ended up with the 72 so that was real exciting."
Bentez Coln on the fast start to the season: "It is always exciting to go through the excitement of the first tournament, but I think one of the things we concentrated on most was team chemistry. We have two new freshmen who haven't traveled before and we needed to make sure that we all came together. We, and the freshmen, had to start school, qualify, travel, play a practice round and then play in a tournament. It was a big first week for us. We just wanted to play our best and get used to each other. That was probably the toughest part of it. But we got used to things quickly though and it showed in our improvement every round."
Bentez Coln on being named a co-captain: "It's the biggest honor I could have ever received. It's been one of my goals ever since I came in as a freshman. I am really excited to have the opportunity to do it as a junior. I definitely think I will work well with Lindsay (Davis) and really learn a lot from her. I am just real excited about it and confident I can lead the team in many ways."
>> Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007 C The Wolverines announced the travel team for the first tournament of the 2007-08 season. Traveling to Michigan State for the 54-hole Mary Fossum Invitational will be:
Ashley Bauer, starting her 12th straight tournament
Lindsay Davis, starting her 28th career tournament, and third straight
Lydia Benitez Colon, starting her fourth career tournament
Min Yean Tan, making her collegiate debut and first career start
Andrea Ratigan, starting her 12th career tournament
Louisa Shu, making her collegiate debut as an individual
Isabelle Gendreau along with the seven tryout players will continue to play throughout the weekend in qualifiers at the U-M Golf Course. Those continuing to try out for a spot on the Wolverines include: freshman Kayla Benjamin, sophomore Stephanie Brigstock, freshman Jen Cleary, freshman Katelin Davis, freshman Johanna Dolle, sophomore Susan Kennedy and freshman Shaziah Singh. >> The Wolverines named senior Lindsay Davis and junior Lydia Benitez Colon captains for the 2007-08 season. It is the first honor for both Maize and Blue players. [ release ]
Lindsay Davis was coming down from her morning practice leaving for her day of classes when she stopped to share her thoughts about being named a captain as well as her thoughts on the season starting.
Davis on being named captain: "I am very honored. I have a lot of responsibility and I am very excited. It's great to be a Wolverine and I need to represent my school in a positive manner so I can a tradition on for later years. So, it is a big responsibility that I am very excited about."
Davis on her leadership style: "I am a very intense person and I get really fired up. I love Michigan and I would like to infuse our team with those qualities. It's just about the excitement and passion to be a Wolverine."
Davis on the opening weekend at MSU: "We are going to play to win. We have a very young team. It's up to the upperclassmen -- the seniors, juniors and sophomores -- to really step up for the freshmen and explain to them what is going on. We have all been there. We understand what is going on during a tournament setting and we need to help them, as well as each other, throughout the entire weekend. We just want to make sure we leave on a positive note after this weekend."
>> In addition to her captaincy announcement today, Lindsay Davis also took some time to share her thoughts about her younger sister, Katelin, who is trying out for the team. As she started talking, Katelin pulled up after finishing her scheduled practice.
Lindsay on her younger sister possibly earning a place on the team: "I am extremely excited for her. I don't know how it will be, but I can tell you I am just so excited. You can never really imagine having your closest friend on a team. We are just going to rebound off each other all year. She can be a great addition to our team."
Katelin on playing with her older sister again: "It's pretty exciting, obviously. It was fun playing with her in high school because we get along really well. We really don't fight very much. She's a good role model and she's old enough to where it's okay that we are not extremely competitive. I am really excited to get a chance to play with her as I haven't really been around her that much the last three years as she has been on campus and I have been doing my own thing. I am just excited for to be together again."
>> Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007 -- The U-M golf course is busy with activity as the Wolverines continue to prep for their opening tournament this weekend at the Mary Fossum Invitational in East Lansing.
As the returning lowest scoring average, Ashely Bauer accomplished plenty during her first season in Ann Arbor. Now, she is ready to eager to help U-M take the next step to try and secure another bid to an NCAA regional.
Bauer on getting started with school and the season: "It's pretty exciting. We are all getting excited, but it is a lot right away for us. A lot of girl's don't know where all their classes are, so we are all trying to pitch in and help the freshmen. The more we can help them, the easier the transition will be for them. We even have qualifying right away, but it is an exciting time of the year for us. We are gearing up for the weekend, and ready to see how things go for us."
Bauer on adjusting her summer schedule back to college life: "The schedule is a lot right away -- with school starting, getting your books, finding your classes, qualifying and then traveling to the first tournament. I know last year it was a big change for me. But coming in this season, I know what I have to do, so it is easier. It is just such an exciting time. I am really ready to get to that first tournament."
Bauer on her confidence heading into her second season: "I definitely have high expectations. I haven't really put them all down yet, but they are there. I know that I have high expectations for not only myself, but for our team as well. Even in the first day of qualifying we had some really good numbers, so we should be ready to go and accomplish some of our early goals."
>> With the start of the season quickly approaching this weekend at Michigan State's Mary Fossum Invitational, the Wolverines released their complete 10-tournament 2007-08 schedule. The Maize and Blue will split its schedule with five tournaments in the fall and five in the spring, followed with the Big Ten Championships in late April at Penn State's Blue Course. [ 2007-08 U-M Women's Golf Schedule ]
Players Mentioned
