SPORTS

Right On Course

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This summer, U-M golfer Erica Zonder added
a state championship to her golfing feats.

Special to The Jewish News

G

olfers generally fol-
low the principle
that the shortest dis-
tance between two
points is a straight
line. But Erica Zonder suc-
ceeds despite occasionally
straying from a straight, safe
path.
For example, when she
entered high school, Zonder
had to choose between her
two favorite sports, golf and
basketball. "I shot free throws
all summer," she recalls,
"then I decided to play golf."
Also, because North Farm-
ington High did not have a
girls golf team, Zonder played
four years on the school's boys
team.
Or consider Zonder's finest
moment on a golf course at
- this year's Michigan Women's
Amateur championships,
when she won the title on the
second playoff hole despite
hitting her tee shot under a
tree.
Zonder's introduction to
golf was conventional enough.
Her father, an avid golfer,
took young Erica and her
brother onto the course every
weekend. She went to some
golf camps, played in some
tournaments, and soon realiz-
ed that she liked the sport
"because I was good at it. I
think everybody likes the
things they're good at doing.
I started playing tour-
naments — you play well a
few times and you get that lit-
tle taste of victory."
She also prefers individual
sports. "There's a lot of your
own self in golf, as opposed to
team sports where you're just
playing a role. It's all you."
Zonder particularly enjoys
match play golf, where two
competitors go head-to-head,
like at the Michigan
Amateur. After qualifying for .
the event in a stroke play
round, Zonder beat four
golfers in match play competi-
tion. "It's the highlight of my
golf career," Zonder says. "It
was like all my hard work had
finally paid off. I was really
excited." .
Zonder lost three of the first
six holes in the final, then

came back to lead by one after
17 holes. But her opponent,
Amy Klingenmeyer, birdied
while Zonder settled for par
to send the match into a sud-
den death playoff.
On the second extra hole, a
par four, Zonder hit her tee
shot under a tree and had to
chip sideways onto the fair-
way. Meanwhile, Klingen-
meyer was on the green, 20
feet from the hole.
Zonder then produced "the
best shot of my life." Using a
sand wedge, Zonder's 70-yard
shot rimmed the cup. She tap-
ped in a two-inch putt for par.
Klingenmeyer, obviously
rattled, three-putted to lose
the hole and the match.
"It was weird because this
summer I was really down on
my golf game," Zonder ad-
mits. "I was ready to throw

Zonder will
graduate next
spring, then will
decide whether to
enter law school
or to pursue golf.
"I'd like to spend a
year and work
on my gamer she
says.

the clubs down for the sum-
mer. That really boosted me
and I've been working really
hard ever since."
As a freshman at North
Farmington, Zonder played
on the junior varsity team.
But when she moved to the
varsity level as a sophomore,
everything changed.
"Nobody would really talk
to me my whole sophomore
and junior years because they
didn't like the idea of losing
to a girl."
As a senior she was co-
captain and gained respect
because "I had been around
so long."
But she wishes she'd played
on a girls high school team. "I
never got to compete against
girls. I never got to play in the
girls high school tournament.
I never got to meet the
coaches who came to recruit
at those tournaments. It
would've been nice to have
known the people in high

♦

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Photos by M ike Rose n bau m

MIKE ROSENBAUM

♦

Erica Zonder teed off to a fine season.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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