The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday- September 21, 1992-Page 7 Teeing it up *Women golfers prepare for another season by Andy De Korte Daily Sports Writer Up and on the golf course at the crack of dawn. Well, not quite. However, getting the skinny on the Michigan wom- en's golf team did illustrate the amount of work the team requires. My athletic odyssey started last Monday afternoon, joining up with coach Sue LeClair shortly after practice had started. LeClair had intended to have her team mem- bers work on their short games and putting rather than go out on the course. However, with the course basking in the late summer sun, she decided to alter the agenda. "With a day like today, how can you not let the girls go out and play?" she asked. While that day saw the Wolverine club out on the course, a large segment of practice does not include the links at all. Aside from working at the different putting greens and the driving range at the University course, the golfers frequently go to an off-campus driving range between rounds. Out on the course, veteran traveler and senior Wendy Bigler said, "It's nice. This way there isn't a lot of pressure on practice and we can work on things for the tournaments. Sometimes, I'll get off to the driving range before practice actually starts." According to LeClair, the practice round will soon become as scarce as Monday practices for the traveling members of the team. Because of the nature of golf tournaments, the five or six women who travel usually need to leave Thursday to allow for a practice session and two days of competition. The travel leaves them in favor of an off day and a self-determined practice sched- ule as tournaments approach. "I really like to let them try to work on the things that they feel they need to work on the most (rather than having a rigid schedule)," LeClair said. "They know what they need to work on." Last week, because the Lady Northern tournament in Iowa was three days instead of two, the team had to leave Wednesday, costing the Wolverines yet another day of preparation. Of course, since the whole team does not go on the trips, activity still continues at home. Just yesterday, as the squad was completing the Lady Northern, Tiffany McCorkel, Kate Hanson, and Carrie Nosenchuk contin- ued to fine-tune their games on their home course. While the three may not travel to compete in any of the four fall tournaments, they still enjoy playing for the squad. "It's fun just being on the team," Hanson said. "I'd like to compete, but it is fun golfing, hanging out with the other girls on the team, and getting to know them. We also have an opportunity to improve our game. It's good to get some help, but you really don't need other people to work on your game like in other sports. Of course, the problem is when playing a round of golf, it takes a long time, but it's better than studying." Nosenchuk added, "One of the best things is playing with other women who know how to golf. Other than the golfers on the team, I don't know any other women who golf well." The camaraderie of the linksters is evident to anyone who watches the team. The experience of this team (four seniors, three ju- niors, one sophomore and one freshman) allows for its close-knit nature. That's not rhetoric just cooked up by a coach or team captain. "The people on the team had a lot to do with my de- cision (to come to Michigan)," freshman Shannon McDonald said. "The academics here, of course are great, and I love the course, but I really like my team-' mates." It's the combination of teammates that excites LeClair. Despite graduating a number of golfers last season, including team leaders Erica Zonder and Kristin Beilstein, LeClair expects the team to pick up where it left off with the addition of McDonald and the emer- gence of Jennie Zimmerman and Tegan McCorkel. And so it goes after my last Sunday drive. Senior Wendy Bigler shot rounds of 88 and 79 in the Lady Northern Invite for Michigan, which placed 10th out of 15 teams. Good news bad news for linksters by Ken Sugiura Daily Sports Writer This one can be classified in the good news-bad news category. The good news is the Michigan women's golf team notched a top-10 finish at the Lady Northern Invitational in Iowa City. The bad news is that there were only 15 teams entered. The bad news is the last 18 holes of the Invite were canceled due to heavy rains yesterday morning. The good news is that the premature end- ing spared the team from staying in the state of Iowa any longer. The good news is that, with a team score of 669, the Wolverines were but eight strokes behind sev- enth-place Northern Illinois. The bad news is that tourney champion Indiana finished in the next county over, registering a 625 to claim the title on the par-72 Finkbine Golf Course. While in the final round Michigan did improve six strokes from its opening 341, it was not enough to lift the Wolverines, as 1I of the 15 entries lowered their scores as well. In a meet in which every Big Ten school competed, Michigan got a rather bitter taste of what lies ahead this season. The Wolverines placed eighth among conference teams, ahead of Purdue, Penn State and Northwestern. However, Michigan coach Sue LeClair's club may also have re- ceived a more promising harbinger in the form of freshman Shannon McDonald. In her first college tour- ney, the Kenilworth, Ill., native fired rounds of 82 and 83 to finish 28th in the individual standings. Taking medalist honors was Illinois' Renee Heiken, who shot identical rounds of 75. McDonald's strong showing came as something of a surprise to LeClair, who figured teammates Wendy Bigler and Tricia Good would pace the Wolverines. How- ever, it was the New Trier High product who topped the squad. Finishing behind McDonald were senior co-captain Bigler, who placed 38th at 167, a shot ahead of team- mate Jenny Zimmerman in 41st. 1 DEPARTMENT OF RECREATIONAL SPORTS 3 INTRAMURAL SPORTS PROGRAM WANTED!!! Ice Hockey Officials Clinic Begins: Tuesday 9/22 7:00 P.M. IMSB For Additional Information Contact IMSB 763-3562 Hanson ___________________________________________ , ~ "'K ~ ~ $ ( <*'' 7 ~ v:~~ ',~' 7 >'~<' ~ V << -C C 'C CC '7 'C C ~ C ~~',C& ~VC' K. V ~ ( C .'CX 'C~, CCV V V V *C '~'~~C CYC' C ,C ,~ V V ~y 2'C;CC~ ~,CC C CC CC~ V ~' CCC C .V-'k~