Coming off two straight second-place finishes at the Big Ten Championships, the No. 13 MSU women’s golf team would love nothing more than to have a shot at winning this weekend’s championships in Madison, Wis.
The Spartans enter this weekend having finished first and second, respectively, at their past two tournaments, and should be considered one of the favorites this season given that they graduated just one senior from a year ago.
To improve their chance at winning, the Spartans have been working on their short game and emphasizing strong performances from their top six golfers.
“We would like six good scores,” head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said. “We’ve been keeping them ready and have had a great week of practice. The team worked very hard.”
The Spartans’ two most dangerous opponents figure to be No. 8 Purdue and No. 19 Ohio State, the two other ranked conference opponents.
Purdue won the championship last season on its home course and has two tournament championships this season.
Nevertheless, the Boilermakers haven’t finished higher than fourth in each of their past two tournaments against top-notch competition but still will be one of the favorites.
The Buckeyes enter this weekend’s tournament after defeating the Spartans last weekend at the Buckeye Invitational to claim first place. The Buckeyes adapted to poor playing conditions better than the Spartans and went on to claim a 14-shot victory ahead of second-place MSU.
Earlier this season, the Spartans tied for second at the Lady Northern Invitational in September, which served as a preview to the Big Ten Championships.
Although the Spartans weren’t able to secure first place as a team last weekend, they were sparked by the play of senior Laura Kueny, who wrapped up first place individually by shooting an 11-over 227 and defeating Ohio State’s Rachel Rohanna by one stroke.
If Kueny, who was named the Big Ten Women’s Golfer of the Week this week for the second straight week, can follow up last weekend’s showing and her second-place performance two weeks ago at the Gator Invitational on April 10 and 11, she could spark the Spartans to a higher finish this weekend.
“Laura has been a solid rock for our team,“ junior Aimee Neff said. “I think the team’s confidence is high, and everyone’s been playing well as of late.”
The Spartans also will be in good shape if sophomore Lindsey Solberg can follow up her top-5 performance at Ohio State last weekend. Solberg, Neff, sophomore Shannon Warner and freshman Caroline Powers were top 40 finishers, and the Spartans can benefit once again if players across their lineup perform well.
The Spartans saw the majority of this weekend’s opponents at last week’s Buckeye Invitational, competing against eight Big Ten teams.
If the Spartans are able to shore up their short game and raise their level of play, they have a realistic shot at winning their first conference title since 2007.
“This is our tournament time,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “These last three weeks are big weeks.”
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