Golf team to compete in Rio Verde Invitational
For the first time in Central Michigan golf history, the team will be traveling to Rio Verde, Arizona to play in the Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational this weekend.
Starting on Friday the team will tee off at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday the team will tee off at 8:30 a.m.
Head coach Cheryl Stacy said she has experience with the course from her time coaching at Michigan.
“The greens will be tricky as the slopes are downhill facing the west,” she said.
As for goals and expectations for this invitational, Stacy said the team doesn’t have any true goals.
The team met with sports psychologist Dr. Chris Carr of CMU who told the team to not have any goals because it puts unwarranted pressure on yourself. Carr told the team to play loose and focus on one shot at a time.
Stacy said if there is a goal for this invitational it would be to have each player shoot a 76 or lower during the event. The course is a par 72.
The competition includes several Mid-American Conference teams including Akron, Ball State and Ohio. Other teams competing will be Arkansas State, Seton Hall, Wichita State, and Xavier, among others.
Stacy said freshman Danielle Sawyer and sophomore Bria Colosky were striking the ball well in practice this week.
The two will look to carry the success they had at the MAC Match Play Challenge into the Rio Verde Invitational, where Sawyer had three birdies on the back nine against Oakland in a win and Colosky had a win against Bowling Green State.
This will be CMU’s first stroke play tournament since last fall.
