Women's Golf Opens Season With NCAA Preview

Sept. 9, 2010

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EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State women's golf team opens the 2010-11 season Sept. 13-15 (Monday-Wednesday) at the NCAA Preview, which is being held at the Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas, site of the 2011 NCAA Championships. The prestigious tournament features 18 teams, including 14 that participated in the 2010 NCAA Championships.

The Traditions Club, a par 72, 6,271-yard layout that opened in 2004, serves as the home course for Texas A&M University. Live stats of the entire three-round tournament will be available at www.golfstat.com.

"We have an outstanding schedule," said MSU head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll, who is beginning her 14th season at the helm of the Spartan program. "We knew that we were going to have a lot of depth this year, which after five rounds of qualifying, that definitely was proven. It's going to be a great year in terms of competition amongst the team. We're really looking forward to getting started at the NCAA Preview, which is the top 18 teams in the country down at Texas A&M."

Michigan State is coming off one of its most successful seasons in school history. The Spartans claimed three tournament titles (Mary Fossum Invitational, Tar Heel Invitational, Gator Invitational), set numerous team records, including the best overall 54-hole tournament score, and earned a berth to the NCAA Regionals for the 12th straight year in 2009-10.

MSU only lost one starter from last season's team - but unfortunately, it was Laura Kueny, the program's all-time scoring average leader at 74.60. Kueny also set an MSU single-season scoring average record in 2009-10 with a 73.85.

"It's a little nerve-racking - we just lost the best player in the history of the program - but we have plenty of players who are ready to step in and fill Laura Kueny's shoes, that's the good news," said Slobodnik-Stoll on starting the season out with the NCAA Preview. "What I do use from Tom Izzo's philosophy is that he just doesn't want a good team here or there, he wants to build a program that's good every year, which he's obviously done, and I hope that people have felt that we've done that too.

"It's a big step for our first tournament, but there's nothing we could do about that. This is when the tournament is, and we feel very fortunate we got an invitation to go. It's the preview for where we hope to be in the third week of May at the national championships. It's going to be a great tournament for us this week."

Several experienced Spartans will look to fill Kueny's spot at the No. 1 position, including senior Aimee Neff, who has earned All-Big Ten honors three years in a row. Neff had another successful summer, winning the Indiana Open for the second straight year, participating in the U.S. Public Links and the U.S. Amateur, and representing the Spartans at the inaugural Hooters Collegiate Team Championship in Dahlonega, Ga. She enters her final season in East Lansing with a 76.32 scoring average, which is currently fourth best in program history.

"It will definitely be a challenge," said Neff of playing in the NCAA Preview. "Texas A&M has a great course, naturally, that's why nationals are being hosted there, so we're looking forward to that. We have a new face on the team, so that will be good for Christine (Meier) to be thrown right into the mix. I think we still have a good balance of veterans as well, so it will be good for us to stack up right away. We'll know where we're at."

Junior Lindsey Solberg, who also competed at the Collegiate Team Championship with Neff, returns for her third season in the starting lineup. Solberg was fourth on the team last season with a 76.53 average and her 76.67 career average after two seasons is sixth in the school record books.

Sophomore Caroline Powers set an MSU freshman record with her 76.03 average last season, which was good for second on the team, trailing only Kueny. Powers posted four top-20 finishes, including a fifth-place showing at the Lady Northern Invitational.

Veteran Michelle Bowles and incoming freshman Christine Meier also qualified for the starting lineup for the NCAA Preview.

Bowles competed in all 13 tournaments as a sophomore in 2008-09, but only played in the Mary Fossum Invitational last season. She enters her senior year with a career scoring average of 79.41 in 22 tournaments.

Meier won her second straight Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Division I individual state title in 2009 as a senior at Rochester High School. She won the Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) Women's Championship in 2009 and took third at the 2010 tournament this past August. She also finished runner-up at the Michigan Women's Amateur, falling to teammate Natalie Brehm in the finals.

Although Brehm did not qualify for the NCAA Preview, she will push for playing time in 2010-11, her senior season in East Lansing. Brehm had a spectacular showing in the summer, winning the Michigan Amateur and the GAM Championship.

Another playing returning with starting experience is Shannon Warner. Warner played in nine tournaments last season, compiling a 78.00 average, and has seen action in 16 events her first two seasons.

Junior Maddi Massa and red-shirt freshman Liz Nagel will also compete for playing time in the lineup.

Newcomers Allyssa Ferrell, Lindsey McPherson, Gaby Muller and Bea Murray round out the roster for Michigan State.

"It's amazing - no matter how many rounds we play, they're always within one," remarked Slobodnik-Stoll on qualifying this week. "We really have three players that will be home this weekend who were within a couple of strokes of making it. That's hard for them, because it's always the `coulda, shoulda, wouldas', but that's a learning experience for them.

"It's exciting to see what we're going to get every week, and I think the players are very understanding of the fact that if they don't play well in one round in one of these tournaments, they're going to be back in qualifying with the players who are itching to go on the road. We have a good combination of some older players on the team, mixed with some of the younger people, and they're all extremely competitive. I'm just proud they're all here wearing Michigan State gear."

NCAA PREVIEW QUICK FACTS
Course: Traditions Club, Bryan, Texas
Opened: 2004
Par: 72
Yardage: 6,271
Fairway/Rough Grass: Bermuda
Greens: TifDwarf Bermuda

NCAA PREVIEW SCHEDULE
Sunday, Sept. 12
8 a.m. - practice round

Monday, Sept. 13
8 a.m. - first round (tee off from holes 1 & 10)

Tuesday, Sept. 14
8 a.m. - second round (tee off from holes 1 & 10)

Wednesday, Sept. 15
8 a.m. - third round (tee off from holes 1 & 10)

NCAA PREVIEW FIELD
Alabama
Arizona State (individuals only)
Auburn
Duke
Georgia
LSU
Michigan State
Pepperdine
Purdue
Stanford
Tennessee
Texas
Texas A&M
Tulane
UCLA
USC
Vanderbilt
Virginia
Wake Forest