Michigan
Pepperdine
Michigan Falls to Consolation Bracket with Loss to Pepperdine
3/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
March 23, 2015
Site: Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
Course: The Farms Golf Club (par 72, 6,199 yards)
Tournament: SDSU Farms Invitational (Day 1 of 3)
Match Play: Pepperdine 3, Michigan 2 (Seeding)
Next U-M Event: Tuesday, March 24 -- vs. Boise State- SDSU Farms Invitational, 8:35 a.m. PDT
RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. -- The 13th-seeded University of Michigan women's golf team lost, 3-2, today (Monday, March 23) to fourth-seeded Pepperdine in the qualifying match of the SDSU Farms Invitational held at the Farms Golf Club. With the loss, the Wolverines fall to the consolation bracket and open against 12th-seeded Boise State in the first round on Tuesday (March 24). U-M will then face either 16th-seeded UC Irvine or ninth-seeded Houston in a Tuesday afternoon (March 24) match.
With a format change from stroke play to match play decided over the winter break, the Wolverines headed to California for their fourth spring event and second match-play event of the season. Earlier in the fall, U-M hosted the East & West Match Play Challenge (Sept. 20-22) at Radrick Farms Golf Course.
With today's matches deciding the championship and consolation brackets of the 16-team field, the 13th-seeded Wolverines got off to a slow start early, falling behind in four of the five matches. U-M came back and picked up a pair of victories and nearly claimed the team win after freshman Emily White's match came down to the final hole, before the Maize and Blue fell, 3-2.
Junior Catherine Peters' 3-and-2 win over Alina Ching highlighted the qualifying day. After dropping two of her first three holes, Peters was quickly down two before winning Nos. 5 and 6 to even the match. The pair split Nos. 8 and 9, and the match remained squared heading to the second nine. Ching won the 10th hole to go one up, but Peters caught fire on the 12th hole to draw even and proceeded to win the next three holes to claim U-M's first victory, 3-and-2.
Freshman Megan Kim followed Peters' lead, providing U-M's only other match victory as she took hers right down to the wire before taking a 2-and-1 win over Tatiana Wijaya. Kim took the early lead, winning the first hole, but saw it quickly wiped out as she lost the very next hole. She birdied the third hole to reclaim the lead, and she extended it to 2-up with a par on No. 7. Dropping No. 8 with a bogey, Kim had a 1-up lead at the turn.
She carried that lead over the next six holes before taking the 15th to go up two with three left. Needing to win the next hole to close the match, Kim saw Wijaya struck back to slice the lead to just one with two remaining. A par from Kim on the 17th and a bogey from Wiajya helped the match come to a close as the Wolverines took a 2-and-1 victory.
With Pepperdine claiming a 4-and-3 win over freshman Kathy Lim and a 2-and-1 win over sophomore Grace Choi, the match was tied 2-2 and came down to White's match against Katherine Zhu. White carried a 2-up lead through the first six holes after winning Nos. 1 and 4. A bogey on No. 7 cut her lead in half, but she rebounded, taking the eighth hole to go back up two heading to the turn.
Zhu drew the match even, winning the first two holes of the backside. With the two staying even for the next five holes, Zhu was the first to strike, taking the 15th and her first lead of the match. As the pairing went shot for shot, White was unable to send the match to extra holes as Zhu edged out a 1-up win the give Pepperdine the 3-2 victory.
The loss moves 13th seed U-M to the consolation bracket with ninth-seeded Houston, 10th seed Kansas, 11th seed Long Beach State, 12th seed Boise State, 14th seed Nevada, 15th seed New Mexico and 16th seed UC Irvine.
Match Play Qualifier Results
#4 Pepperdine defeats #13 Michigan, 3-2
Katherine Zhu (Pepperdine) defeats Emily White (U-M), 1-up
Somin Lee (Pepperdine) defeats Kathy Lim (U-M), 4-and-3
Catherine Peters (U-M) defeats Alina Ching (Pepperdine), 3-and-2
Megan Kim (U-M) defeats Tatiana Wijaya (Pepperdine), 2-and-1
Marissa Chow (Pepperdine) defeats Grace Choi (U-M), 2-and-1
N O T E S
• Updated Career Match Play Records: Grace Choi (2-1), Catherine Peters (2-1), Megan Kim (2-1), Emily White (1-2) and Kathy Lim (0-3).
• Catherine Peters made her third straight start of the spring season. Kathy Lim remains the only Wolverine to have started all eight tournaments this season.
Communications Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
