Encouraging weekend nish for women's golf

On Monday and Tuesday, the Michigan women's golf team bested adverse conditions and a poor start to turn in a solid performance.

The team took fifth at the NIU Spring Lake Women's Invitational in Sebring, Fla.

The first day of the Invitational saw Michigan struggle with its shots because of strong winds. None of the Wolverines posted especially good scores and the team's confidence was down.

"We definitely didn't shoot as well as we would have like to on Monday," freshman Bess Bowers said.

Bowers' struggles were representative of the misfortunes of the entire team. She got off to a rough start, posting a bogey on the first hole and struggled to regain her confidence. She finished with a first-round 84.

DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily Michigan freshman Bess Bowers fought off a shaky first-round performance to shoot a career-best 74 on the second day of the Spring Lake Invitational last weekend.

"It was a rough round," Bowers said. "I was a little nervous. I wasn't confident with my putting or chipping."

A different Michigan team came to play Tuesday, including a confident and rejuvenated Bowers.

The freshman got hot early, posting a birdie on the first hole, and didn't cool off all day.

"You get out of the gate like that and it really gets you going," Bowers said.

Bowers shot a 41 on the front nine and three-under par 33 on the back en route to a career-best score of 74 and a 10th place finish.

"On the back nine, I stopped thinking about my score and started focusing on my putts," Bowers said. "I didn't have any idea of what my score was when I finished the round, and that's how everyone says it's supposed to be."

Michigan coach Kathy Teichert was elated with Bowers' performance.

"Bess played great golf," Teichert said. "She made some putts, she got up and down when she needed to. It was critical."

While Bowers' was having a career day, team leader senior Sharon Park was struggling with her game. She shot a two-day total of 165 and finished a disappointing 30th.

"Sharon is so much better than she played this week," Teichert said.

With Park having her problems, several less-heralded Wolverines stepped up, including sophomore Ann Talbot. Talbot came out of a slump of her own this week, posting a score of 159 and a 13th place finish.

"I got my mental game back together," Talbot said. "I remember how to play now."

The Wolverines' other top finishers were Misia Lemanski, who took 17th, and 25th place finisher LeAnna Wicks.

Michigan's finish in the tournament was not only encouraging because it was accomplished with minimal help from Park, but also because the Wolverines beat Iowa and Illinois, the only other Big Ten competitors at the event.

"I'm really happy to see that we finally put a good score on the board," Teichert said. "We have the talent on this team to put up some great scores this year."

03-18-99