Michigan
Moon Golf Invitational
Kim's Top-Five Finish Leads Michigan to Tie for 12th at Moon Golf Invitational
2/19/2019 5:14:00 PM | Women's Golf
» Michigan closed the Moon Golf Invitational posting a 295 team final-round tally to move up one position and tie for 12th with an 884 54-hole total.
» Using a season-low 69 (-3) in her final round, sophomore Ashley Kim posted her first career top-five finish as she tied for fifth with a career-low 211 (-5) 54-hole total.
» Kim's finish is the lowest for a Wolverine since the 2016-17 season when Elodie Van Dievoet tied for fourth at the NCAA Championships (May 24-29, 2017) -- 12 events ago.
» Freshman Ashley Lau tied for 47th at 222, helping her and Kim finish as the top two Wolverines at an event for the third time in five tournaments.
» Michigan heads to Phoenix, Arizona, to play in Wisconsin's Westbrook Spring Invitational on Feb. 24-25.
Site: Melbourne, Florida
Tournament: Moon Golf Invitational (Day 2 of 2)
Course: Duran Golf Club (Par 72, 6,309 yards)
U-M Team Standing: Tie-12th Place of 16 Teams (297-292-295/884)
Top U-M Individual: Ashley Kim, T5th (71-71-69/211, -5)
Next U-M Event: Sun-Mon., Feb. 24-25 -- Westbrook Spring Invitational (Phoenix, Ariz.)
MELBOURNE, Fla. -- Using a career-best finish (T5th) and 54-hole total (211, -5) from sophomore Ashley Kim, the University of Michigan women's golf team posted a final-round team total of 295 Tuesday (Feb. 19) to move up one spot and tie for 12th with an 884 event total at Louisville's Moon Golf Invitational.
After three months away from competition, the Wolverines traveled to play their opening event at the Duran Golf Club. Paced with a 71 (-1) from Kim and an even-par 72 from junior Alisa Snyder playing in the No. 1 position, the Wolverines opened posting a 297 tally. Moving right into the day's second round, a second 71 (-1) from Kim combined with a 72 (E) from freshman Ashley Lau and a 73 (+1) from freshman Sophia Trombetta, U-M dropped six strokes with a 291 to close the first day with a 598 total to sit in the 13th position.
"We have lots to build off from this week," said U-M head coach Jan Dowling. "Our team had 32 birdies and an eagle, which means the good is really good. There were some high numbers that killed our momentum, but we are anxious to get back to competition next week in Arizona."
With Kim's season-low 69 (-3) and a pair of 75s from Lau and Snyder, the Maize and Blue was able to finish with a total of 295 to open the spring with a  12th-place tie -- along with Minnesota.
Using three straight sub-par rounds, Kim led Michigan for the third time in five events this season as she recorded a career-low 211 (-5) tally -- topping her prior best by seven strokes (218; 2017 Ruth's Chris Invitational). With her career-best tally, she posted her second career top-10 and first top-five individual finish as she tied for fifth with three other golfers. Kim's finish is the best for a Wolverine in more than a season and a half.
"Ashley played great this entire weekend," said Dowling. "She posted three under-par rounds, which is really impressive. Her ball striking was consistent and she make some nice on-course adjustments. It was really cool to see her make so many putts and she will use this finish as a confidence booster heading into the bulk of our spring season."
"I was super happy to get back on the course and compete again and I'm really happy about the way I started off this season," said Kim. "My game just felt super solid and my putting, I would say, was the strongest part this week. It was really fun seeing putts drop a lot this week. I'm glad I got my first top five. It was nice to shoot low and I cannot wait to play again this weekend."
Following Kim's performance, Lau tied for 47th with a 222 tally as she wrapped rounds of 75 around her second-round 72. Kim and Lau have now finished as the top two Wolverines in three of five events this season. Snyder followed tied for 54th at 223 (72-76-75) to round out U-M's top three finishers.
The Wolverines will get right back out to competition when they head to Phoenix, Arizona, to play in the Westbrook Spring Invitational, Sunday and Monday, Feb. 24-25, at the Westbrook Village Golf Club. The 54-hole event, hosted by Wisconsin, will be a pre-spring break event.
Final Team Standings
 1. Central Florida        286-283-280 = 849 (-15)  2. Louisville             284-285-289 = 858  3. Oklahoma               291-280-288 = 859    Campbell               293-282-284 = 859  5. Maryland               284-296-282 = 862  6. Old Dominion           284-297-282 = 863  7. Augusta                290-280-294 = 864  8. Kennesaw State         297-287-282 = 866  9. Texas A&M              287-294-288 = 869 10. South Florida          289-294-288 = 871 11. Kansas                 295-299-286 = 880 12. MICHIGAN               297-292-295 = 884    Minnesota              291-296-297 = 884 14. Notre Dame             297-291-303 = 891 15. Florida International  300-298-295 = 893 16. Seminole State         303-294-299 = 896
Top Individuals
 1. Lauren Hartlage, Louisville          69-67-70 = 206 (-10)  2. Abby Heck, Notre Dame                68-70-69 = 207  3. Chinatsu Kobayashi, Central Florida  70-69-71 = 210    Worapitcha Anndit, Seminole State    70-72-68 = 210  5. ASHLEY KIM, U-M                      71-71-69 = 211    Virunpat Olankitkunchai, Maryland    71-73-67 = 211    Libby Winans, Oklahoma               69-67-75 = 211    Chloe Thornton, Kennesaw State       72-70-69 = 211  9. Anna Nordfors, Campbell              71-70-71 = 212    Elizabeth Moon, Central Florida      73-71-68 = 212    R. Meenakshisundaram, South Florida  69-74-69 = 212    Muyu Wu, Minnesota                   66-73-73 = 21
Other Michigan Individuals
T47. Ashley Lau          75-72-75 = 222 T54. Alisa Snyder        72-76-75 = 223 T80. Hannah Ghelfi       79-80-76 = 235 T84. Sophia Trombetta    82-73-82 = 237 T63. Elodie Van Dievoet  74-78-74 = 226* * playing as individuals
Players Mentioned
