The feeling surrounding the No. 10 MSU women’s golf team is not cockiness or swagger.
It’s simply the acknowledgment of how good the Spartans — who lost no golfers from last season’s regular lineup — can be this year. Because of that, this year’s edition of the MSU women’s golf team wants to be the best team in school history.
“Oh definitely. We’re such a young team, and we have so much talent, it’s kind of scary how good we can be,” senior All-American Laura Kueny said. “We all played really well at the (Mary Fossum Invitational), and I think that’s going to carry over to a lot of the tournaments this year.”
The Spartans’ solid play in their opening weekend — a first place finish in the annual Fossum Invitational — carried over to this past weekend’s Lady Northern Invitational, where they finished in a tie for second.
MSU has finished in the top three of the Big Ten each season since 2004, and because of that success, junior Natalie Brehm said it’s tough to tell whether this year’s team will be the best in school history, let alone the best she’s been a part of.
“Every year we’re always trying to improve,” Brehm said. “This team, since we did only graduate one, most of us have had the chance to play and stuff, and that’s always beneficial.”
Head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said when coaches realize the type of talent on their roster they either can pretend it’s not there or constantly remind players of their potential.
Slobodnik-Stoll said the reason she put the “best team in school history” goal in mind is because she truly believes this year’s team can accomplish it.
“I really think with this team that’s assembled here, they’re really something special and it’s not only there’s something special with talent, but something special from the people perspective too,” Slobodnik-Stoll said.
“They’re a great group of young women who believe in each other and believe in our team and our university and want to do great things and want to make sure Michigan State stays on the map as one of the best teams in the country.”
Competition breeds excellence
In addition to Kueny, junior Aimee Neff, junior Michelle Bowles and sophomore Lindsey Solberg each competed in all 13 events last season.
Sophomore Shannon Warner competed in seven events as a freshman and has played the first two events of the 2009-10 season, while Brehm is averaging more than five strokes lower than her career average through two tournaments. Add freshman Caroline Powers (73.7 average), and Slobodnik-Stoll said the Spartans could travel with a different six-person lineup each week.
“They have to perform every week. Whoever doesn’t perform this week knows they’re going to have to come back and qualify for the spot,” Slobodnick-Stoll said.
“Quite honestly, there are seven of them who are playing very, very good golf right now.”
More on Lady Northern
The Spartans shot a 14-over 878 at the Lady Northern in Madison, Wis., to finish tied for second with Ohio State in the 17-team tournament. No. 14 Purdue finished first with a 1-over 865.
In the second round, the Spartans shot a 280 to break the program record for the lowest 18-hole score in team history by six strokes.
In that record-setting performance, Neff shot a 68, becoming just the fourth player in school history to do so.
Individually, Kueny and Powers finished tied for fifth place, each finishing at 219, while Neff finished tied for seventh with a career-best score of 220.
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Solberg tied for 11th place with a 222, while Brehm (231) and Warner (241) rounded out MSU’s scoring.
