Positive attitude key for Blue

Success in golf can be achieved by two things - skill and a positive attitude. Without the latter, however, the amount of skill someone has is irrelevant. Once a golfer gets flustered, it is extremely difficult to recover and gain composure and control.

The Michigan women's golf team has suffered some setbacks in the beginning of its season. Michigan coach Kathy Teichert that was not due to a lack of skill because the Wolverines have a great deal of talent.

Michigan's challenge at this point is dealing with the inexperience that comes with such a young team.

"Overall, we are a very young team with a whole lot of talent," Teichert said. "But, because they are young, they are impressionable, so particularly this year, it is important to keep up their confidence."

Teichert is still in the process of reviewing the players to see whom she will choose as the top three or four. This task, however, could take all season. At this point, the Wolverines are just establishing their strengths and weaknesses and trying to gain experience competing.

Freshmen up to par: Although much of Michigan's difficulty this season can be attributed to the inexperience of the team as a whole, a few freshmen have stepped up their games and have contributed some low scores in both the Spartan Invitational on Sept. 12-13 and the Lady Northern Invitational this past weekend.

Freshman Bess Bowers was the second Michigan finisher, 35th overall, in the Lady Northern Invitational. She finished with a combined three-round score of 249, just two shots behind senior captain Sharon Park.

"Bess Bowers has been a really good addition to the team this year," Teichert said. "She played extremely well this past weekend - She was very consistent."

Freshmen LeAnna Wicks and Misia Lemanski have also seen some playing time in the tournaments. Wicks played in both of the competitions, while Lemanski participated only in the Lady Northern.

Teichert said it's important to play freshmen, not only so they can gain experience, but to help establish who can compete on a weekly basis.

The course factor: Because golf is not played on the driving range, where each ball is placed exactly where it is convenient, the course can be a determining factor in the attitudes of the players.

If a course is particularly hilly, windy, or has a lot of sand traps or undulating greens, it can fluster the players.

This was part of the problem for Michigan this weekend. On Saturday, the wind was difficult for the Wolverines to handle, which contributed to the high scores by all of the players.

"The course and the conditions of the course are very important," Teichert said. "We need to know how to handle the different types of courses, so we need to keep playing so we can see who is best for the wide, open courses and who is best for the tighter courses."

With such a young team, it is difficult to establish so quickly who is best for each given situation. It could conceivably take the Wolverines all fall to figure it out, but the process will be beneficial because it will give the players the confidence and experience they need to get better.

09-29-98