In the Spotlight: Catherine Peters
3/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
March 20, 2015
After playing in two fall events as an individual, junior Catherine Peters wanted to make a change to get back in the lineup. She used the winter training period to concentrate on the mental side of her game -- especially with the guidance from the book "Vision54." Taking these new approaches she sharpened her game as the spring season approached. After missing the opening event, she got her start at the Hurricane Invitational and shined, posting a career-best 71 that led to a career-best 54-hole event total (222). She started the next event for U-M (Wildcat Invitational) and is expected to make her third straight start at the SDSU Farms Invitational. Getting that opportunity was all she wanted. Now she wants to hold on to it for as long as possible. Peters took a few minutes from practice to speak about getting back into lineup and her new mental approach to her game.
On what has changed for her since the winter break ... "I put in a lot of work over the winter, including a lot of work just focusing in on my mental game. I focused mainly on course management, my play in and around the greens, my putting stroke, and continued to study and use the book 'Vision 54,' which has helped me have the right thought over the ball more consistently."
On what "Vision54" is ... "It is a mental approach to the game. It is when you cross the line from decision making to actually executing the skill, leaving everything else behind and committing to the shot. It puts things into a more practical standpoint. It's a generalized concept of one shot at a time. This helps you with the 'how do you do that?'"
On how "Vision54" has helped the team ... "We all work on different things in regards to 'Vision54.' We all take something different from it. For me, my thought is I want to have a tight core when I am over the ball. It keeps me right over the ball, with good tempo and then good impact. Someone else might take tension awareness, or balance or some other aspect of 'Vision54.'"
On what has helped her game in addition to the mental side ... "My putting has always been pretty good since I made the stroke change this summer. The difference has been my ball striking. I have been hitting something like 14 or 15 greens and that really takes the pressure off my short game. I can always work on my chipping, but to take the pressure off of that has been really nice. I just want to try and stay consistent with that moving forward."
On getting back in the lineup ... "It's been pretty nice. I missed playing a lot. Coming back and getting into the lineup at Biltmore (Hurricane Invitational) was really nice. I was ready to go. All my hard work paid off. I was happy to get that opportunity."
On the team's 287 in the second round of the Hurricane Invitational really serving as an inspiration ... "The 287 was a wakeup call. It showed us we can do this and there needs to be more work towards that. Seeing that fulfillment from all the work we put in through the winter makes people want to work even harder now. In Arizona, we see teams shooting 30 under. Now we look at it as that is not unobtainable because someone else did it. We just need to keep working to get there ourselves. That 287 was really important for us. Now, we are not happy with rounds of 75 or 76, we want go under par or have 72s or 73s across the board."
On this stretch run of events in the spring season culminating in a match play event ... "It's really all about staying in the process regardless of the format. I am sure we are going to be a little tired, because we have had a busy schedule lately. But I don't think it is really going to be a factor physically. Match play is a little different because anything can happen. You can be more aggressive. There are many incredible shots made in match play that doesn't really happen in stroke play. Stroke play gives you a chance to make up for a mistake, but match play it is one hole at a time and it forces you to make every hole count."
On if the team is excited for match play again ... "We are all really competitive on the team. We hate losing. I mean we all really hate losing. So, this upcoming event is going to be a great format for us."
On if she is ready for match play again ... "The East & West was my first-ever match play event. So, that was a great experience. I know it will help me going into this one. I am excited to do it again."
On if she still runs and rides her bike everywhere on campus and to practice facility ... "This winter was a little hard because it was really cold, but I have started back up again. I had some nagging injuries that prevented me from running a lot, but I am better now. I am bringing the bike out of storage soon (laughing). You will see me around again for sure."
Communications Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
