Three's company

By Rhonda Gilmer

All for one, and one for all!" They're not quite the Three Musketeers, but the famous slogan is perfectly appropriate.

Talking to them might seem like they are unknowingly sharing a secret about some common bond between three young women.

They laugh and converse together almost like three fairies, letting out their knowledge like pixie dust. Their voices flutter around with non-stop energy.

This trio of roommates: Courtney Reno, Misia Lemanski and Bess Bowers make up the core of the women's golf team. Their living situation is made precarious by how they must compete against each other. Every week, they race to see who will gain the right to travel to the next tournament.

A good time, a good place

With 11 girls on the team and only five or six positions available on the traveling team, competition becomes fierce.

During the first fall tournament, this situation tested the waters of their friendship. For the Lady Northern tournament in Madison, only Bowers made the traveling squad.

"We were supportive of the fact that she was going," Lemanski said. "We didn't have any hard feelings towards her, and it was just the fact that we didn't play well."

Between practices, out-of-town tournaments, and living together they could find it very easy to get on each other's nerves. But no matter what the situation these women seem to keep going in a positive direction. Maybe it's the silver thumb rings they all wear, or the same color blue they all love to bear.

When describing each other, they think in terms of their best qualities. Courtney is the funny one, Misia is the nice one and Bess is the smart one.

Last year they were placed with different roommates in West Quad. The university doesn't like to pair golfers since they spend so much time together anyway.

"People warned us that we shouldn't be roommates, but we've never, ever had any problems at all," Bowers said.

On the team they might sometimes be seen as a group attempting to conspire together in hopes of leading the team. The three all say that they definitely know how to take charge. While away at tournaments, they are usually the vocal ones, saying first where they want to go eat.

"At one tournament we went to and saw a fellow golfer carrying a pull cart," Lemanski said. "We made fun of her and called her an old maid. It was pretty fun though, because she had actually sprained her ankle and was unable to carry around her golf club."

From then 'til now

Reno, who's golf career began at age seven, recalls a memory of her first time on the golf course.

"When I first picked up a golf club at seven, I hit my grandma with my club," Reno said. "We were on the range, it was like my whole family, and I was sitting there practicing golf.

"Then, she called my name, and I didn't hear her, so I just kept hitting, and she got clocked in the knees."

Despite this early blunder, all the hard work and discipline must have paid off because now Reno has a powerful, long-end stroke. "Courtney can hit the ball a mile," Lemanski said.

Bowers, who is from Bloomington, didn't begin her golf career until her junior year of high school.

"I was 16, and had just decided to discontinue competing in track due to injuries," Bowers said. "I was used to being the best in everything, but with golf this wasn't the case."

Like Reno, Lemanski started golf at an early age. The two grew up together. They are both from Grosse Ile where they went to the same middle and high schools, serving on the varsity golf team at Grosse Ile High School.

"Golf is what brought us together," Lemanski said.

Bowers, the third wheel of the tricycle, did not come along until recently. She met the other two during her first year, while on the golf team.

"Originally, I made friends with Misia because she had a car, and I needed a ride," Bowers said. "Since Misia and Courtney were friends, they often rode together to practice, and I got to know both of them pretty quickly.

"What I liked about Misia and Courtney was they always made me feel like I belonged, I never felt like I was intruding on a long-lasting friendship that was too exclusive to share."

Play on

Part of being a competitive athlete is playing under any means necessary. So being on the golf course shouldn't be any different.

One might think that warm weather and sunshine would be perfect golfing weather, but the sophomores' performance shows otherwise.

For them, cold, windy and rainy are the most favorable conditions for playing good golf.

"(I like it to be) around 30 degrees," Reno said. "It depends on if I'm hitting the ball straight, if I'll have a good day that day."

Weather isn't the only worry these golfers have to deal with.

Michigan State continues to be a team nemesis even when competing in this sport. Often the teams share jokes and pranks during competition, but just as a friendly rivalry.

During the fall tournament held at Michigan State, the Spartans used toilet paper to cover the Wolverines' lockerroom. Last year, they painted the golfers' van with an insipid green, writing "Go Green and Teike" (Michigan coach Kathy Teichert) all over the vehicle. Being Wolverines they had to fight back. Michigan saran-wrapped the Spartans' vehicle so tight that they couldn't open the doors. "It's all in good fun, though," Bowers said.

What's interesting about this scenario is Teichert is a Michigan

State graduate. But, she still shows great Michigan pride.

One of the qualifications of being a Michigan golfer is to know the fight song.

Teichert seems to enjoy firing her team up before tournaments by singing "The Victors" at the golf course, airports and restaurants.

The three describe her as being hard-working, tolerant, diplomatic - and she can play too.

"Coach Teichert is very good at trick shots," Bowers said. "She has showed us key plays such as how to fire a ball up in the air over two trees and into a hole."

A blue sky, a blue ocean, maize and blue. The three love the color blue. They're true blue friends, which is how they describe the bond that they share.

In addition to practice and tournaments the threesome also spends a lot of time off the course.

"We like to go out whenever we get the opportunity," Lemanski said. "We like to take advantage of it. Usually during the season we're away at tournaments over the weekend so we cannot always go out.

Sometimes, we have to study so we must sacrifice a night in the weekend."

As time progresses on, it's tough to picture these three apart.

And with golf as an ongoing factor there is no need to question the other aspect their lives will continually share. Their growing friendship is much like practicing a golf swing. It takes a lot of time to develop the good qualities - but with a little time, it makes your whole game better.