WRAP UP: Golf finishes 10th at first competition of spring
Central Michigan golf teed-off its spring season Monday at the Women’s MAC Play Challenge at Lakewood Ranch, Florida.
The Chippewas were ranked 11th out of 12 teams going into the tournament, but finished in 10th place.
CMU competed in two matches on the first day. In their first match, the Chippewas faced off against Florida Gulf Coast University, but were unable to win any individual match-ups, falling 5-0.
“Our girls played decent, it’s just that they played better,” Head Coach Cheryl Stacy said of her team’s performance.
CMU faced Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne in the second match of the day and found more success than in its first match. The Chippewas were able to knock the Mastodons down 3-2.
Sophomore Kristen Wolfe took part in the closest match of the day when she came back from a four-hole deficit to defeat IFWP’s Brenna Sherwood on the 18th hole.
Wolfe underwent a procedure on her knee over winter break, which put her status for this tournament up in the air. Stacy wasn’t sure Wolfe would be able to compete until a couple weeks before the tournament started.
Sophomore Natalie Johnson and freshman Bria Colosky also won their matches. Colosky’s match was close the whole way, pulling away with a win on the final hole.
She was able to get her spring season off to a good start by winning two matches during the two-day event.
Johnson dominated her match with a final score of 7 and 6, which means she had a seven-hole lead through 12 holes, ending the match.
“Natalie was actually under par that round, so that was very positive,” Stacy said, “the second round of the first day was pretty exciting.”
On the second day of the tournament, CMU faced off against Mid-American Conference rival Ohio, where they fell 4-1.
“It’s a nice tournament to start with because it’s match play, so if you have one bad hole you can still win the match,” Stacy said.
Winter weather has not stopped the Chippewas from working on their game, but it has kept them inside. Stacy said her team was rusty for the first couple days in Florida, but adjusted as they re-acclimated themselves to playing outside again. Stacy said hitting shots on actual turf has a much different feel from the artificial turf in the team’s practice facility at the Mount Pleasant Country Club.
“We do a lot of chipping and putting, but some of the pitches you get outside aren’t quite the same as indoors. Hitting more greens would also make it easier on the game, we need to work on some ball-striking and some short game,” Stacy said.
CMU will take part in their next tournament March 11 when they head to Mesa, Arizona to compete in Notre Dame’s Clover Cup.
