Central Michigan University Athletics
Monday, February 4
Lakewood Ranch, FL
TBA
Central Michigan University
at
Mid-American Match Play Challenge (Lakewood Ranch G&CC)
Photo by: Allissa Rusco
Chippewas Tee It Up
2/3/2019 1:06:00 PM | Women's Golf
Spring season opens with MAC Match Play
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Trending. Isn't that the do-all descriptive -- up or down -- for performance these days?
In the case of the Central Michigan golf team, the trend is decidedly up. And up some more.
The Chippewas open the spring portion of their schedule on Monday at the Mid-American Match Play Challenge at Lakewood Ranch Golf & Country Club in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
CMU and six other MAC members welcome Florida Gulf Coast, Western Illinois, Illinois State, Morehead State and Purdue Fort Wayne. The MAC teams in the field are CMU, Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, Akron, Ohio, Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan. The matches will be contested on Lakewood's Royal Lakes course, which is set up to play to par 72 over 6,068 yards.
CMU, which is seeded ninth, opens against eighth-seeded Ohio. The winner will face top-seeded Florida Gulf Coast. The two-day event concludes on Tuesday. The Chippewas could play as many as four matches. The seeds are based on where each team ranks nationally.
The Chippewas, in their fifth year as a varsity program, made a major splash in the fall after Earle took over the program just prior to the season. They played in five fall events, posting two third-place finishes, a fourth, and a fifth. The fields for all five events in which the Chippewas participated comprised 10-16 teams.
CMU was last on a golf course for a tournament in late October. With the success the Chippewas found in the fall, it's no wonder that they are champing at the bit to tee it up.
"The first thing is we can't wait to get on grass," said Earle, who has been putting his players through their paces at the indoor training facility at Mount Pleasant Country Club. "I think we can move forward in the spring from the fall. I don't think that that was a shot in the dark that we had the success that we did in those last four (fall) tournaments.
"I look for us to continue it, for sure, and really compete for a (tournament) title. I think that's what this team wants, to bring home some hardware. It would be quite an achievement for them. They're ready to get out there and have at it."
The Chippewas' spring schedule comprises seven event All, except for this week's MAC match play, are stroke play. The season culminates with the MAC Championship at Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville, Ind., April 19-21.
At the MAC Fall Preview, which was also played at Purgatory, the Chippewas finished third with a 901 total, a 54-hole program record. Within that 901 total was a 291, an 18-hole record.
A solid consistent starting five emerged for the Chippewas in the fall, led by Bria Colosky and Jami Laude.
Colosky, a senior, finished in the top 10 three times in the fall, posting a program-record 76.5 18-hole average. Her second-place individual finish at Purgatory in October stands as the best for a CMU golfer since the program's resurrection before the 2014-15 season.
Laude ranked second on the team with a 77.92 average and she posted four top-20 finishes. Senior Holly Hines, junior Danielle Sawyer and sophomore Meghan Deardorff round out Earle's starting five, each of whom showed consistent improvement throughout the fall season.
The Chippewas averaged 313 per 18-hole round in the fall, eclipsing, by nearly five shots, their previous best season average of 317.9 set during the 2017-18 season.
Part of that score improvement is due to limiting "blow-up" holes, where a player cards a double bogey or worse.
"Avoiding big numbers," Earle said. "I think that was the most glaring statistic during the MAC Championship. We very rarely made a double or more. We limited those big numbers and then just let our birdies help our rounds.
"They all hit the ball great, they have great distance and they're good putters. As long as we can keep it in play and keep those big numbers down and take advantage of the holes that are there to be taken advantage of, we'll be in good shape."
In the case of the Central Michigan golf team, the trend is decidedly up. And up some more.
The Chippewas open the spring portion of their schedule on Monday at the Mid-American Match Play Challenge at Lakewood Ranch Golf & Country Club in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
CMU and six other MAC members welcome Florida Gulf Coast, Western Illinois, Illinois State, Morehead State and Purdue Fort Wayne. The MAC teams in the field are CMU, Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, Akron, Ohio, Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan. The matches will be contested on Lakewood's Royal Lakes course, which is set up to play to par 72 over 6,068 yards.
CMU, which is seeded ninth, opens against eighth-seeded Ohio. The winner will face top-seeded Florida Gulf Coast. The two-day event concludes on Tuesday. The Chippewas could play as many as four matches. The seeds are based on where each team ranks nationally.
The Chippewas, in their fifth year as a varsity program, made a major splash in the fall after Earle took over the program just prior to the season. They played in five fall events, posting two third-place finishes, a fourth, and a fifth. The fields for all five events in which the Chippewas participated comprised 10-16 teams.
CMU was last on a golf course for a tournament in late October. With the success the Chippewas found in the fall, it's no wonder that they are champing at the bit to tee it up.
"The first thing is we can't wait to get on grass," said Earle, who has been putting his players through their paces at the indoor training facility at Mount Pleasant Country Club. "I think we can move forward in the spring from the fall. I don't think that that was a shot in the dark that we had the success that we did in those last four (fall) tournaments.
"I look for us to continue it, for sure, and really compete for a (tournament) title. I think that's what this team wants, to bring home some hardware. It would be quite an achievement for them. They're ready to get out there and have at it."
The Chippewas' spring schedule comprises seven event All, except for this week's MAC match play, are stroke play. The season culminates with the MAC Championship at Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville, Ind., April 19-21.
At the MAC Fall Preview, which was also played at Purgatory, the Chippewas finished third with a 901 total, a 54-hole program record. Within that 901 total was a 291, an 18-hole record.
A solid consistent starting five emerged for the Chippewas in the fall, led by Bria Colosky and Jami Laude.
Colosky, a senior, finished in the top 10 three times in the fall, posting a program-record 76.5 18-hole average. Her second-place individual finish at Purgatory in October stands as the best for a CMU golfer since the program's resurrection before the 2014-15 season.
Laude ranked second on the team with a 77.92 average and she posted four top-20 finishes. Senior Holly Hines, junior Danielle Sawyer and sophomore Meghan Deardorff round out Earle's starting five, each of whom showed consistent improvement throughout the fall season.
The Chippewas averaged 313 per 18-hole round in the fall, eclipsing, by nearly five shots, their previous best season average of 317.9 set during the 2017-18 season.
Part of that score improvement is due to limiting "blow-up" holes, where a player cards a double bogey or worse.
"Avoiding big numbers," Earle said. "I think that was the most glaring statistic during the MAC Championship. We very rarely made a double or more. We limited those big numbers and then just let our birdies help our rounds.
"They all hit the ball great, they have great distance and they're good putters. As long as we can keep it in play and keep those big numbers down and take advantage of the holes that are there to be taken advantage of, we'll be in good shape."
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
Day 2 MAC Championship
Thursday, April 24
Women's Golf Insider - 4/17/24
Wednesday, April 17
Sights and Sounds of Women's Golf's A-Ga-Ming Invitational
Wednesday, September 06
Women's Golf MAC Championship Recap
Tuesday, April 25