Stinson bounces back to end fall

The sophomore led the No. 20 Michigan women’s golf team to
a second-place finish at the tournament, its last of the fall
season. The Wolverines finished with a team total of 885 in the
54-hole tournament, placing them just three stokes behind winner
Campbell College.

After Stinson’s rough start on the first nine holes, she
then shot a 36 on the back nine, placing her in a tie for 19th
place. Later that day, she went back out and shot a two-under-par
34 on the same nine holes that had taken her 39 shots to complete
just a few hours before.

“I hit a lot of fairways,” Stinson said. “I
think a difference was that I was hitting it a lot closer to the
pin. It was a shorter course, so I felt I could go at the pins
more. And I was playing with a lot of confidence, so I just kept
going right at the pin each hole.”

But Stinson was not done yet. On Tuesday, she outdid herself
again, posting a 3-under-par 33 on the front nine. For the
tournament, Stinson shot a personal-best 216, five strokes better
than her previous low round.

Stinson was not the only golfer to place in the top 10 for the
Wolverines. She was joined by sophomore Brianna Broderick, who tied
for fifth place overall. Fifth was a fitting number for Broderick,
as this is also the fifth tournament in a row in which she has
placed in the top 10. Her performance earned her a spot in the
Michigan record books, tying former Wolverine Kim Benedict for most
consecutive top-10 finishes.

Broderick got the job done through consistency, firing up two
rounds of 72 to start the tournament and then shooting a 73 on her
final 18 holes. Her 54-hole total of 217 topped her previous best
of 219, which she shot earlier this season at the Mary Fossum
Invitational.

“I was playing smart and missing the ball in the right
spots,” Broderick said. “I was able to make some
up-and-downs and some good putts and my short game is what really
helped me this weekend.”

Broderick is not the only Wolverine to be working her way into
the record books, as senior Laura Olin played in her 43rd
consecutive tournament, placing her only six back of the previous
record of 49, also held by Benedict.

Michigan coach Kathy Teichert was pleased with the way her team
performed at the tournament. She felt that Stinson played
particularly well, taking advantage of the shots that her
team-leading fairway percentage gives her. Teichert was also
pleased with the performance of Broderick, who proved she can shoot
well even when she’s not at the top of her game.

“Broderick would be the first person to tell you she still
isn’t hitting the ball well, but she has still been able to
score,” Teichert said. “She’s smooth as silk out
there. It is just so fun to watch.”

The tournament was played in a different manner then most, as
teams played 27 holes on both days, as opposed to the normal 36
holes the first day and 18 holes on the second day. This did not
seem to throw the Wolverines off, as their best round was the split
middle 18. They shot a 289 there, their season-best 18-hole
total.

Michigan will not play in another tournament until the Central
District Classic which is scheduled for February 21 to 22 at River
Wilderness Country Club in Parrish, Fla.

It has been a successful fall season for the team, which has won
two tournaments this fall and placed second in two other
tournaments. In its only other tournament, the Lady Razorback
Invitational, the Wolverines finished sixth out of 19.

The golfers and Teichert hope to keep working hard during the
winter and start the spring the way they finished off the fall.

“I am really happy with the way that the entire fall
season has gone. We’ve given a lot of players an opportunity
to play and it has been different people stepping it up here and
there,” Teichert said. “We are exactly in the place
that we want to be going into our spring season.”