Red-Hot Chippewa Golfers Close Fall Season At Evansville

Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Central Michigan golf team is eyeing another high finish this week when it plays in the Charles Braun Jr. Intercollegiate at Oak Meadow Country Club in Evansville, Ind.

The two-day, 36-hole event is scheduled to begin on Monday and conclude on Tuesday. Oak Meadow will play to par 72 over 6,032 yards.

It is the final event of the fall season for the Chippewas, who seemingly re-write the program record book every time they tee it up.

Last week, CMU finished third in the Mid-American Conference Fall Preview at Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville, Ind. That outstanding effort followed a fourth-place finish at the Eastern Michigan Shirley Spork Invitational in Ypsilanti, and a third-place at the Oakland Golden Grizzlies Invitational in Rochester.

Before its current streak, CMU had posted just one top-five team finish -- a second last fall at the Western Michigan Kzoo Classic -- since the program's resurrection before the 2014-15 season.

"We're not talking about winning tournaments and we're not talking about top-five finishes," first-year CMU coach Jim Earle said. "We're talking about doing the small things that lead to the bigger picture and right now we are clicking on all cylinders and we're ready to tee it up again."

Among those small things is eliminating big things – double bogeys, triple bogeys and worse.

The Chippewas did that at Purgatory, where they set 18-, 36- and 54-hole team scoring records, and senior Bria Colosky finished second individually, setting program records for 36-hole and 54-hole totals. Colosky's runner-up finish was the best for a CMU golfer since the program's re-birth.

It was the fourth time a Chippewa has posted a top-five individual finish in CMU's last three tournaments. Jami Laude finished tied for fifth at Oakland, and Colosky and sophomore Meghan Deardorff finished tied for third at Eastern Michigan.

Eleven of CMU's 12 counting scores at the MAC Fall Preview were in the 70s. Their average score in those 12 rounds was 75.1.

"Eliminating the big numbers is what allowed us to shoot really low," Earle said. "Finally getting to see that in a tournament was really eye opening for the team. I think they're hungry for more. I think they really want to compete again."
The 13-team field at Evansville includes the host Purple Aces, Butler, Eastern Illinois, Green Bay, Illinois-Chicago, Illinois State, Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis, Northern Kentucky, Southern Illinois, Tennessee State and Valparaiso.

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Players Mentioned

Bria Colosky

Meghan Deardorff

Jami Laude

Central Michigan University Athletics