Season Review: 2016-17 Michigan Women's Golf
6/9/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
• Senior: Grace Choi (no captains)
• Record: 109-70-1 overall, 29-17 Big Ten Conference
• Big Ten Tournament: 5th (892)
• NCAA Regional: 6th (908)
• NCAA Championships: t-16th (929)
"Our team has taken hold of elevating our program to new heights, and they keep setting the bar higher and higher for themselves. We were very consistent this past year, which says a lot about our team depth. But, what stands out is how well our team played in the postseason and how much fun we had competing with the best." -- U-M head coach Jan Dowling
Paced by a breakout season from sophomore Elodie Van Dievoet, the University of Michigan women's golf team closed the 2016-17 season with its second straight NCAA Championships appearance and with the program's best finish at the national final, tying for 16th. After bookending the fall season hosting the East & West Match Play Challenge at Radrick Farms and winning the rain-shortened Trinity Forest Invitational (Nov. 7-8) to take home U-M head coach Jan Dowling's first U-M team win, the Wolverines went into the winter break with plenty of momentum.
The spring season opened with U-M producing its highest finish ever at the loaded field of the Lady Puerto Rico Classic (Feb. 12-14) and nearly winning the Hurricane Invitational (Feb. 27-March 1), closing as the runner-up. After a top-five finish at the Meadow Club Women's Intercollegiate (March 6-7), the Maize and Blue closed the regular season with a sixth-place showing at the Lady Buckeye Invitational (April 15-16).
With the attention turning to the postseason, Van Dievoet took over and guided the Wolverines to an amazing run. Earning All-Big Ten first team honors, she won U-M's first individual title at the Big Ten Championships (April 21-23), while U-M posted the 10th top-five finish at the conference tournament, closing fifth. Earning a second straight team bid to the NCAA Regional, U-M was sent to Columbus, where the Wolverines had just played three weeks earlier. Using a dramatic 18-foot birdie putt by Van Dievoet on her final hole, she rallied U-M to a sixth-place finish and advancement to the program's second straight NCAA Finals appearance.
Van Dievoet, who earned WGCA All-America second team honors, continued her stellar play at the national championships, nearly winning the national title while tying for fourth. As a team, the Wolverines battled weather all week long and missed advancing to team match play but produced the highest finish ever at the finals, tying for 16th.
Team Highlights
• Elodie Van Dievoet was awarded Michigan's first All-America honors by the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) following her second-team selection. After becoming the first Wolverine in program history to win the Big Ten Tournament, she posted a top-10 finish at the NCAA Regional (t-9th) and top-5 at the NCAA Championships (t-4th).
• With a U-M 54-hole Big Ten Tournament and personal career-best of 210 (-6), Van Dievoet became the first Wolverine golfer to capture the Big Ten individual title. After leading after the first day with a 69 (-3), her second round 71 (-1) saw her drop four strokes back of Michigan State's Sarah Burnham, who blistered the field with her conference record 63 (-9). With Burnham closing with a 75, Van Dievoet continued a steady path to the title with a final round 70 (-2) to take medalist honors by a single shot. U-M has had three runner-ups in its history.
• Van Dievoet became the ninth Wolverine to earn All-Big Ten first team honors. Van Dievoet gives U-M back-to-back seasons of first team selections after Grace Choi earned the accolade last season. Throughout U-M's history, 13 total players have garnered All-Big Ten honors, with nine first-team accolades.
• Michigan averaged 298.00 as a team to help the 2016-17 squad record just the second season in program history to average less than 300. Last year, U-M set the program record with a 295.56 per round tally. This season, the Wolverines posted 22 sub-300 team totals, with three sub-par and a season-low 284 (-4) in the final round of the Hurricane Invitational (Feb. 27-28).
Individual Highlights
• Elodie Van Dievoet guided U-M to its second straight NCAA Championships (May 20-24) following her dramatic 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole at the Columbus Regional (May 8-10), closing ninth individually. With her 219 (+3) at the finals, she recorded the highest individual finish for a Wolverine, tying for fourth. Van Dievoet finished as the top Wolverine in nine of the 12 events this season, including seven of the eight spring tournaments. In fact, she posted seven top-10 finishes, including five of the final seven events as well as all three postseason tournaments. She broke U-M's single-season scoring record with her 73.09 per-round mark, leading U-M with 12 total sub-par rounds. She carded six of the team's seven total sub-70 tallies, including a career-best 67 (-5) in the final round of the Meadow Club Women's Intercollegiate (March 6-7).
• Grace Choi closed her Michigan career by guiding the Wolverines to their second straight NCAA Championships appearance following a sixth-place team showing at the Columbus Regional. Starting all 12 events, she was second on U-M with a 74.85 per-round average, posting six sub-par rounds, including a season-best 70 (-2) three times. She was part of U-M's first team title under head coach Jan Dowling as the Maize and Blue claimed the rain-shortened Trinity Forest Invitational (Nov. 7-8) in Choi's hometown of Dallas. Overall, she started 42 career events and finished as U-M's all-time scoring average leader (74.90), nearly a full shot better than the previous mark.
• Megan Kim was a steady force for the Wolverines, starting all 12 events in her third season. She averaged 76.09 per round and produced three top-20 finishes. It was Kim's closing ability that helped U-M to back-to-back national finals appearances. Averaging 76.67 and 76.64 in the first two rounds of tournament play, she averaged 74.80 in final rounds. In fact, her finishing ability highlighted U-M's final-round rally at the NCAA Columbus Regional. After opening with rounds of 81 and 83, she rallied with a team-best 74 (+2), birdieing three of her last five holes to help U-M move to the NCAA Championships.
• Emily White started all 12 events and averaged 76.45 per round in her third season. She produced two top-10 finishes, leading U-M by tying for sixth at the Trinity Forest Invitational and tying for third at the Hurricane Invitational after posting a season-best 213 (-3). Alisa Snyder started nine of her 11 events in her first season, including starting all eight spring events. Averaging 77.30 per round, she fired a career-best 70 (-2) in the final round of the Big Ten Championships to finish 24th.
Honors and Awards
Grace
Choi
Megan
Kim
Elodie
Van Dievoet
Emily
White
Alyssa
Snyder
NCAA Championships
Second straight team appearances, third in program history
Finished with best finish (t-16th) in program history
NCAA Regional
Second straight team selection
Finished sixth to advance to second straight NCAA Finals
Big Ten Championships
5th, 10th top-five finish
First medalist in program history (Elodie Van Dievoet)
Team Titles
Trinity Forest Invitational (Nov. 7-8, 2016)
Individual Titles
Elodie Van Dievoet, Big Ten Championships (April 21-23, 2017) -- First in program history
WGCA All-America
Elodie Van Dievoet, second team -- First in program history
WGCA All-Regional Team
Elodie Van Dievoet (Columbus)
All-Big Ten
Elodie Van Dievoet, first team
All-Big Ten Tournament Team
Elodie Van Dievoet
Big Ten Sportsmanship Honoree
Grace Choi
Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award
Grace Choi (U-M's female representative)
Big Ten Golfer of the Week:
Elodie Van Dievoet (Oct. 5, 2016)
Preseason Big Ten Golfers to Watch
Grace Choi
Megan Kim
Emily White
WGCA Academic All-America
Grace Choi
Megan Kim
Kathy Lim
Alisa Snyder
Academic All-Big Ten
Grace Choi
Megan Kim
Kathy Lim
U-M Academic Achievement
Grace Choi (High Honors)
Hannah Ghelfi
Megan Kim (High Honors)
Kathy Lim (High Honors)
Alisa Snyder
Emily White
U-M's Leaders & Best Team Award (MVP)
Grace Choi
U-M Low Stroke Average Award
Elodie Van Dievoet (73.09) -- new program single season record
U-M's Leaders & Best Academic Achievement Award
Megan Kim
U-M's Most Improved Award
Elodie Van Dievoet
Communications Contact: Tom Wywrot
Players Mentioned
