Indiana University Athletics
IU Looks Ahead to Michigan
9/12/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
September 12, 2002
Hoosiers To Open Season Saturday at Wolverine Invitational
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• Indiana skips the Mary Fossum Invite this year to compete in their 4th Wolverine Invite. Best IU Team 18 |
Tournament Information
The Indiana University Women's Golf team will open its season at the 2002 Michigan Invitational, Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 14-15 in Ann Arbor, Mich. Michigan will host the event and will be held on the University of Michigan Golf Course, which will be setup at a par 72 and a yardage of 5,927 yards.
The 54-hole event will field 11 teams: Ball State, Bowling Green, Bradley, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Ferris State, Grand Valley State, INDIANA, James Madison, Michigan and Ohio.
The tournament begins Saturday with a 9 a.m. shotgun start, followed immediately by the second round. The final round will begin Sunday at 8 a.m. with tee times off No. 1 and No. 10.
The Starting Six
Indiana's six players to compete at the Wolverine Invitational will be seniors Cara Stuckey and Adrienne Graessle; juniors Danah Ford, Karen Dennison and Ambry Bishop; and freshman Molly Redfearn.
Tournament Format
Scoring for the Wolverine Invitational will be six players with the low four scores each round.
Tournament Results
Complete tournament results will be made available on the web at IUHOOSIERS.com following the event. Results can be viewed and printed out by choosing the Women's Golf link from the main menu. For more information, contact Jeff Smith at (812) 855-6209 or through e-mail at jepsmith@indiana.edu.
"Quoting" the Coach
Indiana Coach Sam Carmichael: "This tournament will be a tough test for us as we open up the season, mainly because we have a different lineup. Adrienne Graessle and freshman Molly Redfearn outshot some of the other girls during a two-day qualifier last weekend, so they have earned their spots.
"Although she's a freshman, Molly has a good and unique swing, and she's really a competitor. She kept her composure in qualifying and ended with six straight pars which was nine to see.
"The golf course is a very tough golf course that we haven't played in a few years. Michigan is always a tough team to compete against and their the defending champions of this tournament. It's their home track and it's always tough to beat a team on their home course."
Hoosiers to Watch
Indiana opens the season with the majority of last year's starters returning. Junior Karen Dennison was last season's team scoring leader with 76.74.
Senior Cara Stuckey came on late last spring and provided many low scores for the Hoosiers. Fellow classmate Adrienne Graessle, who sat out all last year with a back injury, returns to the lineup for the first time since April 2001.
Freshman Molly Redfearn beat out veteran Mary Lidester in qualifying and will make her collegiate golf debut this weekend.
Dennison Caps Off Impressive Summer in Taiwan
Karen Dennison had quite the summer leading into her junior season this year.
The Madison, Ind., native competed for Team USA at the 2002 World University Golf Championships in Taipei, Taiwan and was one of the scoring leaders for the squad.
Prior to her overseas competition, Dennison won the 4th Annual Indiana Match Play Championship, defeating teammate Cara Stuckey 3 & 1. Dennison went on to place fifth with a 217 (72-70-75) in the IWGA State Amateur and finish tied for sixth in the Indiana State Open with 145 (72-73). Along with teammate Danah Ford, Dennison also was a participant in the WWGA Western Amateur and the North vs. South Championship at Pinehurst.
"Karen is a really good player who makes the effort everyday to become better," said Indiana coach Sam Carmichael. "She has the ability to score and the attitude to post a low number. She has the chance to be an outstanding player."
Bishop Earns Well-Deserved Success
Junior Ambry Bishop had quite the productive offseason this past summer.
The Franklin, Ind., native won the Women's Golf Association of Metropolitan Indianapolis Championship, after she qualified second in the event with a 73. Bishop was also runner-up by one stroke at the Indiana State Open with a 141 (72-69) and tied for 10th at the IWGA State Amateur with a 225 (78-73-74).
Last season, Bishop struggled in events with her swing, ending the year with an 80.60 average in 25 rounds.
"Ambry is a very hard worker and competitive player," said Hoosier coach Sam Carmichael. "She really wants to play well this year and I expect her to have an excellent season."
Hoosier Darkhorses
This year's Indiana squad will need consistent play not only out of the top four positions, but perhaps in the key No. 5 and No. 6 positions.
A couple of Hoosiers to watch for are senior Adrienne Graessle, sophomore Bethany Brunner and freshman Molly Redfearn.
Both Graessle and Redfearn qualified for the season-opening Wolverine Invitational, however junior Mary Lidester, who played in all 12 tournaments last season, will be expected to return to the lineup soon. Lidester, who struggled in this past weekend's qualifying, should have her game ready for the Lady Northern in late-September.
Both Graessle and Brunner, a duo that played in just a combined three rounds last year, had impressive summers. Brunner was a semifinalist at the Women's Golf Association of Metropolitan Indianapolis Championship, falling 2-up to the eventual winner, teammate Ambry Bishop. She also finished tied for 10th at the IWGA State Amateur with a 225 (72-75-78) and placed 29th in the Indiana State Open with a 156 (78-78). Graessle, who sat out all of last season with a back injury, finished ninth at the IWGA State Amateur with a 223 (70-77-76).
The Man In Charge
Sam Carmichael, seven-time Big Ten Women's Coach of the Year, is now in his 22nd season as Indiana's women's golf coach. Before Carmichael directed his attention solely to the women's golf program in 1998, he spent nine years as IU's men's golf coach. During his time as the men's coach, Carmichael won Coach of the Year honors twice (1991 and 1998) and the 1991 and 1998 Big Ten titles.
In the fall of 1981, Carmichael assumed the position of head coach for the IU women's team, and he has led the women to seven Big Ten Championships in the last 14 years-1986, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, and 1998-and 11 top-three finishes in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1999 and 2001. Indiana's seven Big Ten titles rank second to Ohio State's eight championships.
During a 19-year span from 1984-2002, Indiana is the only team in the Big Ten to place among the top three 16 times.
Carmichael and the Hoosiers won their seventh and most recent conference title in 1998 with an all-time championship low score of 1,196.
Carmichael's IU women's teams have earned automatic berths to the NCAA tournament eight times since 1981. The Hoosiers have finished 11th in 1985, 12th in 1986, 13th in 1987, 11th in 1990, 13th in 1992, eighth in 1993, 17th in 1994 and fifth in 1996.
In 1987 he was named Indiana PGA Teacher of the Year and NCAA National Coach of the Year. He also won the NGCA's Gladys Palmer Award in 1994, Indiana Teacher of the Year in 1998, and was named the 1999 Professional of the Year by the Indiana PGA.
Carmichael, a Martinsville, Ind., native, is also an accomplished player. At his alma mater Louisiana State, he participated on the 1960 Southern Intercollegiate and SEC championship teams. Carmichael became the second person in Indiana golf history to win the Indiana Boys State Junior, Indiana State Amateur and Indiana State Open Championships in the same year, when he won the trio of championships in 1960.
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