The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 14, 2000 - 21

THREE'S

COMPANY

By Rhonda Gilmer N Daily Sports Writer

11 for one, and one for
all!" They're not quite
the Three Musketeers,
but the famous slogan is perfectly
appropriate.
Talking to them might seem like
they are unknowingly sharing a1
secret about some common bond1
between three young women.
They laugh and converse together1
almost like three fairies, letting outi
th r knowledge like pixie dust.i
4ir voices flutter around witha
non-stop energy.
This trio of roommates: Courtney
Reno, Misia Lemanski and Bess
Bowers make up the core of theI
women's golf team. Their living sit-
uation is made precarious by how
they must compete against each1
other. Every week, they race to see1
who will gain the right to travel to<
next tournament.
A GOOD TIME, A GOOD PLACE
With 1l girls on the team and only
five or six positions available on the
traveling team, competition becomes
fierce.
During the first fall tournament,
this situation tested the waters of
their friendship. For the Lady
Northern tournament in
Madison, only Bowers made
the traveling squad.
We were support-
i of the fact
that she was Bess Bowers
going,"

golfers since they spend s
time together anyway.
"People warned us that we
n't be roommates, but we'v
ever had any problems
Bowers said.
On the team they migh
times be seen as a group att
to conspire together in h
leading the team. The three
that they definitely know
take charge. While away at
ments, they are usually th
ones, saying first where they
go eat.
"At one tournament we
and saw a fellow golfer ca
pull cart," Lemanski said. "V
fun of her and called her
maid. It was pretty fun
because she had actually
her ankle and was unablet
around her golf club."
FROM THEN 'TIL NO
Reno, who's golf career b
age seven, re
memory
firstI
the
"" * c,

o much
should-
e never,
at all,"

long-end stroke. "Courtney can hit
the ball a mile," Lemanski said.
Bowers, who is from
Bloomington, didn't begin her golf
career until her junior year of high

school.
t some- "I was 16, and had just decided
empting to discontinue competing in track
opes of due to injuries," Bowers said. "I was
all say used to being the best in everything,
how to but with golf this wasn't the case."
tourna- Like Reno, Lemanski started golf
ie vocal at an early age. The two grew up
want to together. They are both from Grosse
lie where they went to the same
went to middle and high schools, serving on
rrying a the varsity golf team at Grosse Ile
We made High School.
an old "Golf is what brought us togeth-
though, er," Lemanski said.
sprained Bowers, the third wheel of the tri-
to carry cycle, did not come along until
recently. She met the other two dur-
w ing her first year, while on the golf
began at team.
calls a "Originally, I made friends with
of her Misia because she had a car, and I
time on needed a ride," Bowers said.
golf "Since Misia and Courtney were1
ourse. friends, they often rode
together to practice, and I
got to know both of them f'
pretty quickly.
"When "What I liked about
Misia and Courtney
picked was they always
olf club made me feel Courtney
'en, I hit like I
grandma belonged, I
h my never felt
," Reno
I. "We

Michigan State continues to be a
team nemesis even when competing
in this sport. Often the teams share
jokes and pranks during competi-
tion, but just as a friendly rivalry.
During the fall tournament
9 held at Michigan State, the
Spartans used toilet paper
to cover the
Wolverines' locker-
room. Last year,
they painted the
golfers' van
with an insipid
green, writing
"Go Green
and Teike"
(Michigan
c o a c h
K a t h y
i" M.Teichcrt)
all over the
vehicle.
B e i n g
FkWolverines
they had to
fight back.
Michigan
saran -

One of the quali-
fications of being
a Michigan
golfer is to
know the fight
song.
Teichert seems
to enjoy firing her
team up before tournaments
by singing "The Victors" at
the golf course, airports and
restaurants.
The three describe her as
being hard-working, tolerant,
diplomatic - and she can play
too.
"Coach Teichert is very good at
trick shots," Bowers said. "She
has showed us key plays such
as how to fire a ball up in the q
air over two trees and into a
hole."
A blue sky, a blue ocean,
maize and blue. The three
love the color blue.
They're true blue
friends, which is how
they describe the bond
that they share.
In addition to
practice and tour-
naments the Misla Lemansi
threesome also
spends a lot of
time off the
course. 4 4
" W e
like to go out whenever we get Photos by

the opportunity" Lemanski said.
"We like to take advantage of it.
Usually during the season we're
away at tournaments over.the
weekend so we cannot
always go out.
Sometimes, we have
to study so we must
sacrifice a night in
the weekend."
4J As titne
progresses
on, I.'s
tough to
picture
t h e s e
th ree
apart.
A n d
with golf
as an ongo-
ing factor
there is no
need to ques-
tion the other
aspect their
lives will contin-
ually share. Their
growing friend-
ship is much like
practicing a golf
ki n swing. It takes a lot
of time to develop
the good qualities
- but with a little
time, it makes your
whole game better.
DAVID KATZ/Daily

f

wrapped
t h e
Spartans'
vehicle

I first
up a g
at sev
my g
witt
club
said

R

Lemanski said. "We didn't have any
hard feelings towards her, and it was
i+ the fact that we didn't play
Between practices, out-of-town
tournaments, and living together
they could find it very easy to get on 3
each other's nerves. But no matter
what the situation these women
seem to keep going in a positive
direction. Maybe it's the silver
thumb rings they all wear, or the
same color blue they all love to I'
bear._
Shen describing each other, VU
thev think in terms of their best
qualities. Courtney is the funny one,
Misia is the nice one and Bess is the e
smart one. al

were on the
range, it
was like my
whole fam-
wssitting
there prac-
ticing golf.
"Then, she
called my
name, and I
didn't hear
her, so I just
kept hitting,
and she got
clocked in the
knees."
Despite this
arly blunder,
1 the hard work
nd discipline
have paid off
has a poweful,

like I was intruding on a long-lasting
friendship that was too exclusive to
share."
PLAY ON
Part of being a competitive athlete
is playing under any means neces-
sary. So being on the golf course
shouldn't be any different.
One might think that warm weath-
er and sunshine would be perfect
golfing weather, but the sopho-
mores' performance shows other-
wise.
For them, cold, windy and rainy
are the most favorable conditions for
playing good golf.
"(I like it to be) around 30
degrees," Reno said. "It depends on
if I'm hitting the ball straight, if I'll
have a good day that day."
Weather isn't the only worry these
golfers have to deal with.

so tight
that they
wcouldn't
eno open the
d oo r s.
"It's all in
good fun, though,"
Bowers said.
What's interesting about this sce-
nario is Teichert is a Michigan
State graduate. But, she still
shows great Michigan pride.
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Last year they were placed with
different roommates in West Quad.
The university doesn't like to pair

because now

,~ an
must
Reno h

___
.. .

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