This Week in Michigan Women's Golf: Cougar Classic
9/29/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Sept. 29, 2016
• Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
• Season Preview: Exposure | MSTV 
THIS WEEK
Sun-Tue., Oct. 2-4 -- at Cougar Classic (Hanahan, S.C.)
Live Scoring | Yeamans Hall Club
On the Tee: Cougar Classic
The University of Michigan women's golf team will get back to competition after hosting the season opener. The Wolverines head to the East Coast to play in the College of Charleston's Cougar Classic, Sunday through Tuesday, Oct. 2-4. The three-day, 54-hole event will be played at the Yeaman's Hall Club. With 21 teams in the field, the first two days will feature 18 holes starting with tee times at 8 a.m., while Tuesday's final round will be a shotgun at 9 a.m. The course will be set up for a par 72 and 6,224 yards.
The Cougar Classic Field
There will be 21 teams competing in the Cougar Classic, including Arkansas, Auburn, Central Florida, College of Charleston, Charleston Southern, Chattanooga, Clemson, Coastal Carolina, Florida State, Furman, Indiana, Louisville, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi State, North Carolina, NC State, Penn State, South Carolina, Wake Forest and Wisconsin.
The Cougar Classic Schedule
Friday, Sept. 30 -- Travel Day
Saturday, Oct. 1 -- Practice Round, 11:40 a.m.
Sunday, Oct. 2 -- First Round (18), 8 a.m. (tee times off No. 1)
Monday, Oct. 3 -- Second Round (18), 8 a.m. (tee times off No. 1)
Tuesday, Oct. 4 -- Final Round (18), 9 a.m. (shotgun)
The Michigan Line-Up
Michigan's starting five will be -- junior Megan Kim, sophomore Elodie Van Dievoet, junior Emily White, senior Grace Choi and junior Kathy Lim.
Last Year at the Cougar Classic
With three Wolverines among the top 50, including a top-15 finish from Grace Choi, Michigan opened its 2015-16 season tying for 12th at the Cougar Classic. U-M closed with an 897 tally in a field that featured eight top-30 programs. [ Recap ]
WOLVERINE BITES
• The Wolverines opened the season hosting the East & West Match Play Challenge at U-M's Radrick Farms Golf Course. After back-to-back 299s, the Wolverines were the fifth seed heading into the match-play portion. In a tight back-and-forth battle, U-M lost, 3-2, to No. 8 UC Davis in the consolation semifinal before rallying to finish seventh with a 5-0 win over No. 7 Nebraska on the final day.
• Freshman Alisa Snyder made her collegiate debut playing in the individual bracket at the East & West Match Play Challenge. She finished stroke-play qualifying with a 157 total and earned the fourth seed on a scorecard playoff. She opened her championship flight semifinal with a 4-and-3 win over Penn State's Kate Granahan before losing to Kentucky's Sarah Shipley, 4-and-3, in the final. Despite the loss, a Wolverine has made the championship match in all three years of the event.
• Juniors Emily White and Kathy Lim both went 2-0 during the season-opening East & West Match Play. After going 0-2 in last year's event, White rebound this season. For Lim, she has remained on a roll in match play. Going 0-5-1 as a freshman, she is 4-0 over the last two seasons, including winning the individual bracket at the 2015 East & West hosted in Wisconsin.
• With all the research completed, it appears Wolverine newcomer Alisa Snyder is the first left-handed women's golfer in program history. The men's program has had three known lefties -- Kevin Dore (2004-07), Brett McIntosh (2013-16) and current senior Reed Hrynewich.
• In addition to being lefties, Alisa Snyder and Reed Hrynewich are each fraternal twins. In fact, both set of twins are collegiate golfers. Snyder's twin brother, Jack, is a freshman at New Mexico State, while Hrynewich's twin sister, Hailey, will be a senior at Ohio.
• Last season, Michigan smashed the 36-hole tournament team record with a 584 total in the stroke-play qualifier at the 2015 East & West Match Play Challenge (Sept. 20-22). The tally lowered the U-M record by nine strokes. With an 835 (-29) total at the Las Vegas Showdown, the Wolverines shattered the 54-hole team record, establishing a new mark by 30 shots. In addition, U-M set its Big Ten Championships 54-hole record with an 865 (+1) total -- 17 shots better than any other conference tournament tally.
• For the first time in 11 years, Michigan had multiple selections on the All-Big Ten teams in 2016 as Grace Choi received first team honors, and recent graduate Catherine Peters was named to the second team. Choi is the first Wolverine to earn first team honors in six years (Ashley Bauer, 2010). The last time U-M had multiple All-Big Ten selections was in 2005 when the Wolverines had three -- Brianna Broderick (1st), Laura Olin (1st) and Ali Stinson (2nd).
• A summer highlight for the Wolverines was Grace Choi's a 3-and-2 victory over No. 11 seeded Julie Houston, giving Choi the 2016 Women's Texas Golf Association State Amateur Championship. It was the first amateur title for her golfing career. [ Full Recap ]
• Mandi Morrow joins the Wolverines as an assistant coach in 2016-17 after Mary Mattson departed to concentrate full-time on pursuing her master's degree in social work from U-M. Morrow spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Tulane, helping the program to back-to-back NCAA regional appearances, culminating in an NCAA Finals appearance in 2015. A native of Kent, Ohio, Morrow played for her father, Mike, at Kent State (2008-12) and helped the Flashes to four consecutive Mid-American Conference (MAC) crowns. She was a two-time second team All-MAC selection (2011, '12) and finished among the top 10 at the MAC Championships twice in her career.
NEXT ON THE TEE
Fri-Sun., Oct. 14-16 -- at Ruth's Chris Invitational (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Mon-Tue, Nov. 7-8 -- at Trinity Forest Invitational (Dallas, Texas)
Communications Contact: Tom Wywrot
