Rain, rain, go away.

This weekend, the wet weather in Columbus hampered the play of the Michigan women's golf team through the first two rounds of the Lady Northern Intercollegiate tournament. It caused the completion of the third round to be postponed a day and created difficult course conditions.

But when the sky cleared yesterday, Michigan shot its lowest score (305) of the tournament on the Ohio State Scarlet Golf Course, and finished seventh in a field of 15 teams.

"I am pleased with our steady improvement, and steady effort over the weekend," Michigan coach Kathy Teichert said. "Each round we got a little better."

Part of this progression was because of the improved weather conditions from Saturday to yesterday.

But the rain may have also helped the Wolverines. Because the rain forced the second round to be completed yesterday and not Saturday, the holes could not be relocated to another spot on the green. This helped the Michigan golfers to become familiar with the course.

"None of our players have ever played this course," Teichert said. "The hole placement was the same all three rounds, and this helped us get a little better in each round."

Michigan shot 312, 311 and 305 in the three rounds.

"We played much better in the third round," Teichert said. "We were in it from the start."

Lauren Olin and Amy Schmucker performed exceptionally in the third round. Olin shot an even par, the only even par from a Michigan golfer in the tournament. Schmucker shot a 4-over-par 76.

"Lauren and Amy shot the scores we really needed them to shoot," Teichert said. "Lauren was very consistent."

But solid numbers from Michigan's top golfers during the last round were not enough for the Wolverines to overcome their high-scoring first round. Olin and Schmucker had trouble with the unfamiliar Scarlet course early on Saturday.

Enter sophomore Brandi Zielinksi.

Zielinski stepped up in the first round and shot a 78, which was good enough to be included in Michigan's lowest four scores and count toward the Wolverines' team score. In the Wolverines' season opener last week, she only competed as an individual.

"Brandi really came through in the first round," Teichert said. "She was key; to get her to help us was really a boost. When you have some depth like that, it takes off some pressure."

Senior Sarah Kruer shot 78 and 79 in the first two rounds, respectively, contributing to the team score as well.

Michigan finished the tournament in the middle of the pack, but was just two strokes behind Indiana and Kent State, who shared fifth place.

"The more we compete, the more we can expect out of us," Teichert said.