In the Spotlight: Lauren Grogan
9/17/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
After teeing off her senior season with a solid showing at the Mary Fossum Invitational, Lauren Grogan is prepping for a new opportunity. It is something she has never done in her career -- match play. With the NCAA Final format changing to a team-match play format to determine the national champions, Lauren and the rest of the Wolverines will host the East & West Match Play Challenge at U-M's Radrick Farms Golf Course. For her entire career, taking on challenges has never been an issue, especially with her positive attitude and leadership. She knows that the team has put in the work and will look to follow the men's programs lead from earlier this fall and defend its home course. As final preparations continue for the Wolverines only home event, Lauren took a few minutes from practice to talk with MGoBlue.com's spotlight segment.
On her role as a leader being the only senior on a young team ... "Last year I was fortunate enough to mentor Grace (Choi) a little bit, so that definitely helped give me an idea of what to say and what to do to help guide younger players in the right direction. It's a very different dynamic than last year, when we were graduating four seniors, but everyone has a very positive attitude, and it's easy to want to help them when you have attitudes like that. They're willing to learn and have shown that they want to know the ropes rather than just expecting me to show them everything."
On starting the season with the team's top-five finish a weekend ago ... "I know a lot of people have talked about the tough conditions, but we are talking about Division I college golf; it's not supposed to be easy, especially in a conference as competitive as the Big Ten. For that being our first tournament showing, we're pleased with where we are, but, like always, we are not going to settle. There are always things to improve on, but we are also trying to pull the positives out. We need to balance it and weigh both the positives and the things we need to work on. Our transfer student, Julia (Montgomery), had a couple great rounds and having two freshmen out there is a new feeling for them. It's not high school golf, where half the people are serious and half are just there. That atmosphere is definitely a change, so coming into this weekend where we are able to host and the match play is on our grounds and I know a lot of parents are coming; hopefully, once they got that first tournament under their belts, maybe a little bit of the nerves will be out of the way. We're still proud of them and the way they stuck it out. Thirty-six hole days are not exactly the easiest thing to do, so I'm proud of what we've done so far and can only look forward positively to the things to come this season."
On hosting the East & West match-play style event ... "It's very exciting. I'm so happy that we get to do this, especially with this being my senior year. I know, after talking with the seniors from last year, that they are so jealous. Even speaking with some coaches this past weekend, they heard we were hosting this tournament and asked me to explain it. They think it's such a great idea, especially with the NCAA making the changes they did. It gives us a great opportunity to, firstly, play on our home ground, and secondly, to get to play some match play, which is an unbeatable to me because it's a completely different mindset for us. You can experiment a little, attacking things differently, and there is a different strategy to it. Personally, in a tournament setting I have never played match play, so I love the thought process behind it. You can see how your competitor is playing and play off that, where it's hole-by-hole, so you can go for it. I love being aggressive, so I am confident it will fit well for both myself and the team."
On the different mindset that competitors have in match-play setting ... "You want to win your match and it's not only because you want to play well -- you still want to benefit the team. At the end of it all, I would much rather have the team succeed as a whole than anything I could accomplish individually."
On playing the Radrick Golf Course as a competition venue instead of the usual U-M Golf Course ... "It might be a little different than playing at the U-M course. Because the tournament we hosted my sophomore year was at the U-M course, I am personally able to experience competing on both courses. Radrick is a great track that we have been fortunate enough to play a lot of during qualifying. It's a different feel and even though it may not be the course that comes to mind when you think of the home U-M course, we feel comfortable. We were talking recently about something as simple as the scorecards there that have the Block 'M' on the front, and it really makes us feel at home. As a group we are very excited to see how it turns out."
On something Michigan golf fans don't know about her ... "For my birthday last summer our family got a puppy. We got an English-cream golden retriever named Cosmo, like Cosmo Kramer in Seinfeld. He is almost five months old now and is the cutest thing. I didn't get much time at home this summer, but we lost our last dog (also a golden retriever) a year ago this month, so it took us awhile to get another golden retriever, but I grew up with that breed and nothing makes me happier than seeing dogs. If there are dogs on the street, especially goldens, I have to go pet them. I'll physically stop the person and ask if I can pet their dog. I've been missing Cosmo a lot. My parents joked to me that they had him in the car and brought him to East Lansing last weekend, but he wasn't. They're trying to get him up here soon because the team wants to see him."
On the biggest dog lover on the team between her and teammate Cat Peters ... "Cat has the numbers on me, I know that, but we also have a wiener dog (in addition to Cosmo). We have a good variety at my house. Cat has the numbers, but I'm willing to call it a draw so we don't have any bad blood."
On her famous antics in the locker room and what she has in store this season ... "I've got a few things that are brewing right now, but I'm not going to disclose anything at the moment. I have one or two people in mind that I know will help me, but it's also my senior year, so I have to make it as comical as I can for everyone. I'm looking forward to pulling a few unexpected things on people throughout the season."
• Previous Spotlight: Jan Dowling
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
