Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Bauer, Savich Lead U-M to Seventh at Big Ten Championships
4/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Site: West Lafayette, Ind.
Course: Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex - Kampen Course (par 72, 6,333 yards)
Tournament: 2009 Big Ten Championships
U-M Standing: 7th Place of 11 Teams (320-311-319-318/1,268)
Top U-M Individual: Ashley Bauer, 11th (77-79-77-80/313)
Next Event: Thu-Sat., May 7-9 -- at NCAA Regional (TBD)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- As high winds throttled Purdue's Kampen Course for a third straight day, the University of Michigan women's golf team closed the Big Ten Championships with a 318 team total today (Sunday, April 26) to drop three spots and finish seventh with a 1,268, 72-hole conference tournament total.
As sunny skies were present during all three days, high winds added an element to the 72-hole event as holes played two to three clubs higher and final scores soared across the board from a typical Big Ten final season battle. The Maize and Blue battled the conditions all weekend long as the Wolverines opened the Big Ten Championships on Friday (April 24), posting a 320 first-round team tally. Junior Ashley Bauer's (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc HS) 77 led the way as she was the only Wolverine to post a round under 80. In the day's second 18 holes, freshmen Brooke Bettis (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North HS) and Meagan Bauer (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc HS) each carded rounds of 77 to help U-M drop nine strokes and tally a 311 team total to finish the day in the fourth position with a 631 total.
Ashley Bauer's second 77 of the championship along with senior Lydia Benitez Colon's (Dorado, Puerto Rico/Pendleton School) 78 in the third round allowed U-M to maintain its hold on the fourth position with a 319. With the winds blowing at their highest all weekend long today, sophomore Min Yean Tan (Queensland, Australia/Hills International College) closed with a U-M tournament-best 76 in the final round, but no other Wolverine broke 80 as U-M closed with a 318 and a 1,268 total to drop three spots and finish seventh.
Ninth-ranked Purdue ran away with the title, winning by 37 strokes while using its home-course knowledge to post a 1,209 total after opening with a 309 that preceded three straight team rounds of 300. No. 17 Michigan State (316-313-316-301) finished as the runner-up at 1,246, while No. 24 Ohio State (317-310-322-306) earned third at 1,255. Adding to the team trophy, the Boilermakers had four players close among the top 10 with Maria Hernandez (79-72-71-75) and Maude-Aimee LeBlanc (75-75-70-77) tying for medalist honors at 297, while Iowa's Tyrette Metzendorf was third at 303 (78-75-76-74).
Ashley Bauer, who earned All-Big Ten second team honors, just missed her second straight top-10 conference finish with her 11th-place 313 total. Hovering around the top 10 all championship long, Bauer opened with a U-M best 77 in the first round and followed with a 79 in the second to sit tied for ninth after 36 holes. With her second 77 in the third round, she moved up to a tie for sixth with 18 holes remaining, but a final-round 80 dropped her to 11th as she just missed the top 10 by a single stroke.
In her first Big Ten event, freshman Milena Savich (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS) notched her ninth top-20 finish in 12 events this season, tying for 20th with a 320 total as she sandwiched rounds of 80 around a second-round 78 and a third-round 82. Benitez Colon and Tan both tied for 27th with matching 322 championship totals. In her final Big Ten event, Benitez Colon bookended rounds of 82 around a second-round 80 and a third-round 78, while Tan fired rounds of 82, 80, 84 and 76 in her second Big Ten Championship.
Bettis finished her first Big Ten tournament tied for 45th at 327 (81-77-82-87), while Meagan Bauer placed 55th in her first conference event at 335 (90-77-85-83).
With the Big Ten Championships completed, the Wolverines will await the decision this Monday (April 27) at 4 p.m. from the NCAA committee on whether or not they will be a regional selection. The NCAA Regional is slated for Thursday through Saturday (May 7-9) with three sites -- University of Florida Golf Club in Gainesville, Fla. (East); Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz. (West); and The Scarlet Course at Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio (Central).
Team Standings
1. Purdue 309-300-300-300 = 1209 2. Michigan State 316-313-316-301 = 1246 3. Ohio State 317-310-322-306 = 1255 4. Northwestern 327-312-314-305 = 1258 5. Iowa 327-317-315-305 = 1264 6. Indiana 332-317-315-302 = 1266 7. MICHIGAN 320-311-319-318 = 1268 8. Wisconsin 318-321-328-308 = 1275 9. Illinois 323-324-325-306 = 1278 10. Minnesota 333-317-318-315 = 1283 11. Penn State 329-321-336-317 = 1303
Top Individuals
1. Maria Hernandez, Purdue 79-72-71-75 = 297
Maude-Aimee LeBlanc, Purdue 75-75-70-77 = 297
3. Tyrette Metzendorf, Iowa 78-75-76-74 = 303
4. Thea Hoffmeister, Purdue 77-76-78-76 = 307
Laura Kueny, Michigan State 76-78-78-75 = 307
6. Junthima Gulyanamitta, Purdue 78-77-81-72 = 308
Nora Lucas, Illinois 81-76-76-75 = 308
8. Shannon Warner, Michigan State 79-80-76-74 = 309
9. Anita Gahir, Indiana 80-74-79-78 = 311
10. Kelsey Lindenschmidt, Northwestern 80-78-78-76 = 312
Other Michigan Individuals
11. Ashley Bauer 77-79-77-80 = 313 T20. Milena Savich 80-78-82-80 = 320 T27. Min Yean Tan 82-80-84-76 = 322 T27. Lydia Benitez Colon 82-80-78-82 = 322 T45. Brooke Bettis 81-77-82-87 = 327 55. Meagan Bauer 90-77-85-83 = 335
N O T E S
• Ashley Bauer became just the ninth Wolverine to earn All-Big Ten honors after being named to the 2009 second team at the post-tournament ceremony. She was also named as U-M's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.
• Ashley Bauer just missed posting her second straight top-10 individual finish at the Big Ten Championships. Her 11th-place finish marks her second-best total in her three conference tournaments -- she tied for 10th (301) in 2008 and tied for 33rd (318) in 2007.
• Milena Savich, Meagan Bauer and Brooke Bettis each played in her first Big Ten Championship.
• After playing in four tournaments as an individual, Brooke Bettis started her first career event at the Big Ten Championships, tying for 45th with a 327 total. She fired a career-best-tying 77 in the second round, a feat she has accomplished one other time in her first season -- the first round of the Windy City Collegiate Classic.
• Ashley Bauer has yet to miss a tournament in her career at Michigan, playing in 35 straight events. Bauer is one of two Wolverines with consecutive-event streaks along with Min Yean Tan, who has played in 23 straight events to begin her career. Newcomer Milena Savich has started all 12 events this season, while Meagan Bauer made her fourth straight start for the Wolverines and her first start at the Big Ten Championships.
Q U O T E S
Michigan head coach Kathy Teichert
On the tournament weekend... "It was a very difficult day out there today. We were okay going into the back side today. We just gave up a lot shots on the final nine holes. We have our work cut out for us (to get a regional bid). We shot 10-over par on the back side. We gave up so many shots -- doubles, triples, quads. It was a very difficult championship, especially the last nine holes we played. It's really disheartening for the girls. They put their heart and souls into it and not to get the reward we felt was coming our way is tough. We were looking at trying to move up to second place and finishing no worse than fourth. That was the goal coming into today. We got really close, but we let it go."
On the windy conditions all weekend long... "It was warm but windy, and that plays havoc on this golf course. It's a long golf course. We played it at 6,333 yards and it had been raining prior to the event, so we didn't get a lot of roll out there. With those conditions, it played at least 6,500-plus. We had holes playing two clubs difference and towards the end three clubs. That was the way it was the entire weekend. With all the wind, it just wears on you. It wore us thin and we didn't get the breaks we needed when we had to get them. It is just a disappointing finish for us."
On Ashley Bauer's All-Big Ten second team honor ... "This is such a great honor for Ashley. She has worked so hard this season as a leader and as a player and to have her get the acknowledgement for that is just fantastic to see. It's been great to coach her. She has a side of her determination that sometimes goes unnoticed. She walks quietly but has a loud game. She is very competitive and wants to succeed on all fronts, both as a person and a player. I am just really happy for her."
U-M Junior Ashley Bauer
On her All-Big Ten second team honor ... "This is a huge honor. It was one of the goals I had set for myself at the beginning of the season. The girls push me so much every day. To be just the ninth Wolverine to receive the award is such a great honor, since there have been so many great players to come through here. There are a lot of great golfers in this conference and to be recognized as one of them is special. I worked hard all year and throughout my career, but this couldn't have been done without my teammates. This award is as much theirs as it is mine."
On the tournament weekend ... "For the first 63 holes of the tournament we hung in there. It was a battle each and every day. Purdue ran away with it after the first round, but the race for second was there. We were only four strokes off of second going into today and we were so excited for today. The past couple of days we felt we still didn't play up to our full potential so we thought today was looking bright for us. Given the conditions, the course was extremely hard. We played so well the first three rounds and we just didn't finish. It's kind of how the season has been. We just haven't been able to knock out those last two or three holes. The 16th, 17th and 18th holes were brutal finishing in the wind this weekend. The par 3 is normally 165 yards, but today it was like 215 (with the wind). There are some hard holes and everyone has to finish and play in the same conditions, but it was just disappointing to finish seventh place after we played so much better than it really showed. Everyone gave it their all. We had different people count at different times all weekend. We just didn't put it all together at the same time."
Players Mentioned
