Wolverines Rally Late on Second Day at NCAA Championships

Saturday, May 21

Eugene, Ore.

1:06 PM PT

Michigan

NCAA Championships

Wolverines Rally Late on Second Day at NCAA Championships

5/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf

May 21, 2016

» After a slow start, Michigan rallied to post a 299 team total but fell into a tie for 22nd after the second day of the NCAA Championships.
» U-M is just eight shots back from the top 15 and advancing to Monday's final stroke-play round.
» After birdieing three of her final six holes, Catherine Peters led U-M with a 73 (+1).
» Grace Choi (70-76) and Megan Kim (72-74) continue to lead U-M as they are both tied for 38th.
» U-M will start off the 10th tee in the second wave for Sunday's (May 22) third round. The Wolverines will be paired with Furman and BYU.

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Site: Eugene, Ore.
Course: Eugene Country Club (par 72, 6,331 yards)
Tournament: NCAA Championships (Day 2 of 4)
U-M Team Standing: Tie-22nd Place of 24 Teams (296-299/595) after Day 2
Top U-M Individual: Grace Choi (70-76), Megan Kim (72-74), tie-38th (146)
Next U-M Round: Sun-Wed., May 22-25 -- at NCAA Championships (Eugene, Ore.), 1:06 p.m. PDT

EUGENE, Ore. -- After a slow start to its second round, the University of Michigan women's golf team used a late rally from senior Catherine Peters to post a 299 second-round total today (Saturday, May 21) at the NCAA Championships being held at the Eugene Country Club. With a 595 36-hole total, the Wolverines are tied for 22nd -- eight shots back from first team cutline.

"The defense of this golf course is that if you miss the fairways you are going to have some trouble," said U-M head coach Jan Dowling. "We did not hit as many today and had some tougher approach shots because of it. On top of that, we had some unforced errors on the greens today. We three-putted more than we would like on any golf course. That was a little frustrating as we threw some shots away, but at the same time we clawed our way back and were able to post a respectable round."

With 18 holes remaining, the Maize and Blue will be look to crack the top 15 in order to advance to Monday's (May 23) final-round match-play seeding and individual medalist play. If U-M is unsuccessful as a team, there could be a chance for an individual to advance as the top nine players on a non-qualifying team move on to the Monday's final round.
"We have a nice opportunity tomorrow," added Dowling. "Our finish is giving us an opportunity to make a run at that first cut, and that is step one in this entire process. We will see what happens tomorrow. It is going to be an exciting day. There are a lot of teams in the mix and our finish gives us a little momentum going into tomorrow."

After posting a 296 yesterday (Friday, May 20), the Wolverines opened the second day positioned 14th. Starting today off the 10th tee as well as in the afternoon wave, U-M got off to a slow start as missed fairways and green misses added up quickly.

Meanwhile, after playing even through her first six holes, Peters posted two bogeys (Nos. 17 and 1) and a double bogey (No. 18) around her turn as she climbed to four over with eight remaining holes. She refocused and seized her birdie opportunities with back-to-back makes on Nos. 4 and 5. With a string of three additional pars, she stuck her approach on No. 9 to give her a fourth birdie of the round and help her lead U-M with a one-over 73. Overall, she is tied for 85th at 150 (77-73).

"I had a few holes get away from me early on," said Peters. "I just had to regroup and slow my pace down. I got a little quick. After slowing myself down and telling myself I can make these shots, things just got better. There was a lot of golf left after the first nine holes."

Junior Grace Choi, who is tied for 38th individually, was U-M's bright spot on the opening nine holes as she continued her momentum from yesterday's two-under 70 first round. She was a par machine, starting the day even with nine straight pars. In fact, over the first two days, she is even on the backside with 16 pars, a birdie and a bogey. Turning to the front side, she posted four bogeys over her first five holes but pushed forward with four more closing pars to finish with a 76.

Sophomore Megan Kim, who is also tied for 38th individually, recorded a double bogey (No. 12) and a bogey (No. 15) to push her to three over early. Sticking her wedge approach to three feet on the par-5 17th hole gave her the first of two birdies on the day as she got a stroke back before making the turn.

With that spark, Kim rattled off seven straight pars before sticking another wedge to two feet, giving her another birdie on No. 7 and putting her one over. However, a three-putt on the following hole put her back to two over, where she stayed as she closed with a 74.

"I was a little frustrated with my round today," said Kim. "I just had too many little mistakes add up. I set myself up in good positions, but all my birdie putts just won't go in. I wasn't missing my much at all. That was frustrating."

The Wolverines will be part of the second wave tomorrow (Sunday, May 22) and will be paired with BYU and Furman. The Wolverines and Paladins will start off the 10th tee beginning 1:06 p.m. PDT, as the Cougars will not compete on Sunday due to a school religious policy. Instead, BYU played its third round after Thursday's (May 20) practice round, posting a 298 total.

"It's good to know that we have a chance. It's going to create some excitement," said Dowling. "When we tee it up tomorrow, we need to focus on our games and our process and see how low we can go. We haven't played our best yet. Hopefully tomorrow we can put together a nice round and see what happens."

"We just need to enjoy it," said Peters. "When we enjoy things we are at ease and at our best. We are more than capable of making that first cut and even the second. It's just staying patient and waiting for putts to drop. In the meantime, stay focused on middle of the fairway and middle of the green."

"We just have to believe in ourselves," said Kim. "When we add pressure on ourselves we tend to not play our games. We made it here for a reason, and we have to focus on that. We can't look around and worry about things. We need to do what we have done all year and play and have a one-shot-at-a-time mindset. When we do that, things will take care of itself."

Team Standings (Day 2 of 4)

 1. Southern California   289-280 = 569 (-7) 2. Washington            289-285 = 574 3. UCLA                  286-291 = 577 4. Stanford              295-283 = 578 5. Oklahoma State        284-295 = 579    Oregon                297-282 = 579 7. Arizona               291-289 = 580 8. Northwestern          292-289 = 581 9. South Carolina        293-289 = 582    Tennessee             297-285 = 582    Duke                  299-283 = 58212. Arkansas              292-291 = 58313. Florida State         295-290 = 58514. Ohio State            293-293 = 58615. Virginia              293-294 = 58716. Georgia               298-291 = 58917. Florida               297-293 = 590    North Carolina        298-292 = 59019. Miami (Fla)           299-292 = 591    Texas                 301-290 = 59121. Alabama               300-292 = 59222. MICHIGAN              296-299 = 595    Furman                298-297 = 59524. Brigham Young         294-306 = 600

Top Individuals

 1. Dewi Webe, Miami (Fla)           69-66 = 135 (-9) 2. Anna Newell, Tennessee           69-67 = 136 3. Virginia Elena Carta, Duke       69-68 = 137 4. Cheyenne Knight, Alabama         69-69 = 138    Haley Moore, Arizona             68-70 = 138    Caroline Inglis, Oregon          73-65 = 138    Rio Watanabe, Ohio State         70-68 = 138 8. Kyung Kim, Southern California   71-70 = 141    Casey Danielson, Stanford        71-70 = 141

Michigan Individuals

 T38. Megan Kim            72-74 = 146 (+2) T38. Grace Choi           70-76 = 146 (+2) T85. Catherine Peters     77-73 = 150T109. Elodie Van Dievoet   77-76 = 153 132. Emily White          82-78 = 160

• Previous Results: Day 1

Communications Contact: Tom Wywrot