Powers leads women's golf to win in Mary Fossum Invitational

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With high expectations following a Big Ten championship in 2010, the MSU women’s golf team came into the weekend with something to prove.

In a field that included Big Ten rivals Michigan and Ohio State at the Mary Fossum Invitational at Forest Akers West Golf Course, the Spartans won their first tournament of the season in convincing fashion with a 15-stroke victory.

The weekend also belonged to junior golfer Caroline Powers, who earned the second individual victory of her career after carrying a lead for much of the tournament.

“This will just propel us in the right direction,” Powers said. “We have two more tournaments this fall, and we got off to a little bit of a slow start, so hopefully this will give us some confidence and we can carry it into our next tournament.”

The Mary Fossum Invitational, which started in 1978 in honor of the longtime head coach (1973-97), is held annually at Forest Akers West. In 25 seasons at the helm of the women’s golf program, Fossum — who was the first ever coach for the program — collected six Big Ten titles and made two trips to the NCAA Championships.

With Fossum in attendance, the Spartans, led by the All-Big Ten golfer Powers along with senior Lindsey Solberg and sophomore Allyssa Ferrell, made their mark with first, sixth and eighth place individual finishes, respectively.

The win also marks the first Mary Fossum Invitational team victory for MSU since 2009, with Powers notching the first individual victory in the tournament since Laura Kueny and Solberg won it in 2008.

“We’re always trying to play confident. So it helped that we had that little cushion and maybe it made it a little more enjoyable and not so nerve-racking,” Solberg said.

“It’s nice to skate on through the day and put together a nice set of five rounds and go on to the next one.”

With a talented roster, the Spartans were able to show off their depth during the tournament. Sophomore Liz Nagel and freshmen Trisha Witherby and Jenny Sritragul had strong showings as they each finished within the top 30.

With the win in the team’s only home tournament of the season, the momentum shifts as they prepare for the Tar Heel Invitational on Oct. 7-9 in Chapel Hill, N.C.

“It was a great experience of watching what they could really do,” MSU women’s golf head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said. “It was more today of holding that and maintaining that lead and seeing what they were going to be able to do in tougher conditions. … All and all, it was a great weekend.”

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