Michigan State University Athletics
Women's Golf Eyes Big Ten Title
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
April 28, 1999
THE WEEKEND ... Purdue's 5,973-yard, par-72 Kampen Course hosts this weekend's Big Ten Championship, with 36 holes scheduled for Friday, April 30, and 18 each on Saturday and Sunday, May 1-2.
Michigan State finished ninth in last year's Big Ten Championship, at Penn State. The Spartans shot a 312-309-316-316=1253 and were led by then-freshman Kasey Gant. Gant fired a 72-77-78-75=302, the best four-round score in school history, to finish seventh.
THE SPARTAN SEASON ... Michigan State has enjoyed tremendous success in 1998-99 and enters the Big Ten Championship with hopes of its first conference title since 1982 and second since the conference began sponsoring women's golf. MSU has already received a bid to the NCAA East Regional.
The Spartans have finished in the top five of all 10 tournaments this season and had two rounds with team scores under 300, a feat never accomplished before at MSU. They began the year with three consecutive team championships, the first time Michigan State won three straight tournaments since 1978. Michigan State has made several appearances in top-20 rankings this year, as high as third in the nation in Golfweek's fall ranking system and 20th in the Sagarin ratings entering the spring season.
One of MSU's victories came on Purdue's Kampen Course, which will host the Big Ten Championship this weekend. That tournament, the Lady Northern, featured all 11 Big Ten schools. Michigan State shot a 322-319-306=947 to finish four strokes ahead of second-place Indiana.
THE STARS ... (listed with class, hometown and 1998-99 stroke average)
KASEY GANT (So., Fort Wayne, Ind., 76.96): Has been in the top 20 of all 10 tournaments this season earned medalist honors at the Mary Fossum Invitational (repeating her 1997 title) and the Wolverine Invitational fired a 68 in the opening round of the Big Ten/Big 12 Shootout, the best round in MSU history and the best round in the Big Ten this season the only Spartan ever to shoot under 70 in a round, and has done so twice finished tied for third with her best three-round score of the year (219) at the Big Ten/Big 12 Shootout has been consistently ranked among the top 50 women's golfers in the nation, including a recent No. 33 ranking in Golfweek her 76.96 stroke average is the second-best in MSU history (trailing only Syd Wells, 75.9 in 1982-83).
EMILY BASTEL (Fr., Upper Sandusky, Ohio, 77.46): Has made a dramatic impact in her rookie season and is a strong candidate to become MSU's second consecutive Big Ten Freshman of the Year winner (Gant won in 1997-98) has fired her career-low of 71 twice in the last three tournaments five top-five finishes include runner-up in the Mary Fossum Invitational, three third-place finishes and fifth at last weekend's Lady Buckeye Invitational her 77.46 stroke average stands fourth all-time at MSU has only been out of the top 20 in one tournament this season has had a team-low five rounds in the 80s, with 21 rounds in the 70s shot a hole-in-one at the Notre Dame Invitational Oct. 23.
STACY SNIDER (Fr., Grand Rapids, Mich., 80.08): Another of Slobodnik's young guns, Snider enters this weekend on a roll, having finished tied for 13th at the Lady Buckeye Invitational last weekend posted top-10 finishes in the Mary Fossum Invitational and the Wolverine Invitational career-low 73 came in the Fossum Invitational.
ELLEN BISHOP (Sr., New Castle, Ind., 80.95): Her stroke average has been nearly two shots lower than her career average entering 1998-99 tied for 16th in her last trip to the Kampen Course, at the Lady Northern posted her best individual finish (tied for sixth) and her career-best round (74) at the Fossum Invitational.
MEGGAN SCHUMAKER (Sr., Columbia City, Ind., 81.17): Produced a top-10 finish at the Fossum Invitational and three other top-20 finishes fired a career-low 70 -- the third-best round in MSU history -- at the Fossum Invitational one of three Indiana natives in the lineup playing in her home state this weekend.
KELLIE DENNIS (Sr., Jackson, Mich., 81.22): Has enjoyed her finest season as a Spartan, producing four top-20 finishes had back-to-back top-10 finishes at the Lady Northern (eighth) and the Wolverine Invitational (tied for seventh) shot a career-best 70 -- the third-best round in MSU history -- in the final round of the Lady Northern in her last visit to the Kampen Course.
THE COACH ... Second-year head coach Stacy Slobodnik has led the Spartans in 1998-99. An outstanding player in her own right, the 1998 Golf Association of Michigan Player of the Year has mixed talented young players with three experienced seniors for tremendous results.
THE HISTORY ... Michigan State has won one official Big Ten Championship, capturing the title in 1982, the first year the conference sponsored women's golf. MSU also captured unofficial Big Ten titles five straight years from 1974-78.
Michigan State's last appearance in the top five at the Big Ten Championship came in 1994, when the Spartans took fifth place. Their last top-three finish came in 1987, when MSU took second.
No Spartan individual has won medalist honors since 1982, although Spartans won the individual title three times prior to 1982. The best finish for an MSU individual since 1982 has been second place (five times).
THE TURNAROUND ... How big has the Spartan turnaround been since last season? For starters, MSU finished ninth in last year's Big Ten Championship, but has not been out of the top five in any tournament this season.
Next, looking at a won-loss record based on teams beaten and lost to in tournaments, Michigan State was 75-71 (.514) in 1997-98. This year, Michigan State is has 28 more victories with a record of 103-22 (.824). Thats a difference of four wins over .500 last year to 81 wins over .500 this season.
THE ROOKIES ... Michigan State's top two freshmen, Emily Bastel and Stacy Snider, stand second and third on the team in stroke average, respectively. In Golfstat's rankings of the nation's top freshman classes based upon impact on this year's team, Michigan State ranks 13th and No. 1 among Big Ten programs.
Bastel and Snider have combined for 13 top-20 finishes in MSU's 10 tournaments this season, including six appearances in the top five. They finished 1-2 on the team at the Lady Buckeye Invitational last weekend, the first time this year that the two freshmen have led the team.
Bastel is a strong candidate to follow in sophomore Kasey Gant's footsteps as Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
THE HOOSIER STATE ... Three of Michigan State's top six players return to their home state this weekend. Ellen Bishop (New Castle), Kasey Gant (Fort Wayne) and Meggan Schumaker (Columbia City) all hail from the Hoosier state. In their last visit to their home state, the Indiana Invitational April 10-11, all three brought home top-20 finishes (Schumaker tied for 11th, Gant tied for 14th and Bishop tied for 17th).
Two of Michigan State's season highlights have come in the state of Indiana. MSU's victory at the Lady Northern took place on Purdue's Kampen Course, while the Spartans' fourth-place showing in the highly competitive Big Ten/Big 12 Shootout was in Muncie. In that tournament, MSU fired a school-record first round of 292.
THE HORIZON ... Michigan State has already earned a berth in the NCAA East Regional in Columbia, S.C., May 6-8. The Spartans have made two previous appearances in the NCAA Championship as a team, in 1982 and '84, but none since the regional format was adopted. Former Spartan Jenn Kangas did appear in the NCAA East Regional as an individual in 1996.
Michigan State is one of 19 teams to receive a bid to the NCAA East Regional and one of four from the Midwest district. Five Big Ten schools -- MSU, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue -- will be at the NCAA East Regional. The regional is being played at The University Club in Columbia, S.C.
Twenty teams received bids to the NCAA West Regional, making a total of 39 in the NCAA Championship. Eight teams from the East and 10 teams from the West -- along with one at-large selection from either region -- will advance to the NCAA Finals in Tulsa, Oklahoma, May 19-22.
Michigan State's top NCAA Championship finish came in 1984, as head coach Mary Fossum led the Spartans to 16th place. In 1982, the Spartans finished 18th.
MICHIGAN STATE UPDATED RECORD BOOK
LOW SEASON STROKE AVERAGE Player (Year) Avg. 1. Syd Wells (1982-83) 75.9 2. KASEY GANT (1998-99) 76.96 3. Lisa Marino (1986-87) 77.4 4. EMILY BASTEL (1998-99) 77.46 5. Kasey Gant (1997-98) 77.48 6. Lisa Marino (1984-85) 77.6 Syd Wells (1981-82) 77.6LOW 18-HOLE SCORE Player (Date) Score 1. KASEY GANT (10/12/98) 68 2. Kasey Gant (10/10/97) 69 3. KELLIE DENNIS (9/27/98) 70 M. SCHUMAKER (9/12/98) 70 Kasey Gant (9/14/97) 70 Kathy Teichert (9/21/84) 70 Syd Wells (9/25/81) 70
LOW 54-HOLE SCORE Player (Dates) Score 1. Kasey Gant (9/13-14/97) 216 2. KASEY GANT (10/12/-13/98) 219 Barb Mucha (9/30-10/2/83) 219 4. Syd Wells (3/31-4/1/83) 221 Syd Wells (10/1-2/82) 221
LOW 72-HOLE SCORE Player (Dates) Score 1. Kasey Gant (5/1-3/98) 302 2. Kelly Holland (5/8-10/87) 303 3. Barb Mucha (5/23-26/84) 309 4. Lisa Marino (5/8-10/87) 310 5. Syd Wells (5/25-28/83) 311
LOW 18-HOLE TEAM SCORE Date Score 10/12/98, BIG TEN/BIG 12 292 9/12/98, FOSSUM INVIT. 293
MICHIGAN STATE IN THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP
The Big Ten began sponsoring womens golf in 1982. An unofficial Big Ten Championship was held prior to that year.
TOP TEAM FINISHES Year (Score) Finish 1. 1982 (922) First 2. 1987 (1,241) Second 3. 1985 (1,287) Third 1987 (1,241) ThirdTOP INDIVIDUAL FINISHES Player (Year) Finish 1. Syd Wells (1983) Second 2. Kelly Holland (1987) Tied-second Lisa Marino (1986) Tied-second Nina Spatafora (1982) Tied-second Syd Wells (1982) Tied-second 6. Jenn Kangas (1996) Fourth
