Michigan
East & West SP Qualifying
This Week in Michigan Women's Golf: East & West Match Play Challenge
9/13/2018 7:50:00 PM | Women's Golf
» Michigan opens the 2018-19 season hosting the East & West Match Play Challenge at Radrick Farms Golf Course
» The fifth-annual match-play event has split hosting duties between U-M and Wisconsin.
» Lone senior Elodie Van Dievoet will lead the Wolverines as she will play in her 29th career event.
» Freshmen Ashley Lau and Sophia Trombetta will start their first collegiate event, while Jacqueline Young will play as an individual.
THIS WEEK
• Sun-Tue., Sept. 16-18 -- East & West Match Play Challenge (Radrick Farms Golf Course)
Sunday, Sept. 16 (Stroke Play) -- Live scoring Â
Mon-Tue., Sept. 17-18 (Team Match Play) -- Live scoring
Mon-Tue., Sept. 17-18 (Individual Match Play) -- Live Scoring
• Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
On the Tee: The East & West Match Play Challenge
The University of Michigan women's golf team and Wisconsin will team up for the fifth straight year for the East & West Match Play Challenge, Sunday through Tuesday, Sept. 16-18, at Radrick Farms Golf Course in Ann Arbor. There will be eight teams in the field playing 36 holes of stroke play to determine seeding for team match play. In addition, eight non-team individuals will be competing in a stroke-play and match-play bracket of their own. Radrick Farms will be set up for a par 72 and 6,292 yards.
The Tournament Field
There will be eight teams competing in the East & West Match Play Challenge, including Iowa State, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Oregon State, Texas A&M, UC Davis and Wisconsin. There will also be six individuals invited from each team, while U-M will enter two into the solo bracket.
The Tournament Format
A total of 36 holes will be played to determine the match-play seeding/bracket. From there, the top four teams will advance to the championship bracket, while the bottom four move to consolation. The eight individuals will follow the same protocol as the teams. Match play will feature five players in head-to-head individual play. The first team to three points (one point for each individual win) will advance. Extra holes will be played as necessary.
The Tournament Rationale
With the NCAA Finals format altered in 2015 from straight stroke play to a match-play format to determine the team champion, Michigan and Wisconsin teamed up to host a match-play event to mirror the new NCAA format and give teams the experience to assist them in acclimating them to postseason play.
The Tournament Schedule
• Saturday, Sept. 15 -- Practice Round beginning at 8 a.m. (tee times; U-M at 9:15 a.m.)
• Sunday, Sept. 16 -- First Round (18) beginning at 9 a.m. (shotgun)
• Sunday, Sept. 16 -- Second Round (18) continuous play following completion of first round
• Monday, Sept. 17 -- Match Play beginning at 9 a.m. (tee times off No. 1 & 10)
• Tuesday, Sept. 18 -- Match Play beginning at 8:30 a.m. (tee times off No. 1 & 10)
The Michigan Line-Up
Michigan's entire seven-member roster will compete, with the starting five including senior Elodie Van Dievoet, junior Alisa Snyder, sophomore Ashley Kim and freshmen Ashley Lau and Sophia Trombetta. Junior Hannah Ghelfi and freshman Jacqueline Young will participate as individuals in stroke play and in matches.
Michigan and the East & West Challenge
• 2017 East & West: Michigan finished eighth in the fourth edition of the East & West Match Play held at University Ridge. After an opening 301, U-M rallied in the second with a 290, but qualified fifth with a 591 total. In two down-to-the-wire matches, the Wolverines found themselves on the wrong end as they dropped a 3-2 decision to Oregon State and repeated with a 3-2 loss to Nebraska in the final match. [ Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 ]
• 2016 East & West: Returning to Radrick Farms, Michigan ended the third event with a seventh-place finish. After back-to-back 299s had U-M qualify fifth for stroke play, the Wolverines lost their opening consolation-bracket match to UC Davis, 3-2. Rebounding on the final day, U-M swept Nebraska, 5-0. Individually, Snyder made her collegiate debut and finished as the runner-up after dropping the championship match 4-and-3 to Kentucky's Sarah Shipley. [ Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 ]
• 2015 East & West: Playing at Wisconsin's University Ridge, Michigan closed with a fourth-place team finish. The Wolverines were second in the stroke-play qualifier with a U-M-record 36-hole total (584) before dropping matches to eventual winner Oregon (4-1) and Indiana (4-1). Individually, Kathy Lim won the individual match play bracket with a convincing 4-and-3 win over Wisconsin's Jessica Reinecke. [ Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 |Day 3 ]
• 2014 East & West: Hosting the inaugural event at Radrick Farms Golf Course, Michigan was eighth in stroke play and went 1-1 in match play to finish seventh. U-M dropped its opening match to Miami (4-1) before defeating Iowa (4-1) on the final day. Megan Kim was the runner-up in the individual bracket after losing 1-up to Ohio State's Lina Aguillon. [ Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 ]
Wolverine Bites
• For a second straight year, Elodie Van Dievoet led U-M in scoring with a 75.13 per-round average in the 2017-18 season. She had three top-20 finishes and led the Wolverines in two events -- including the Big Ten Championships (T19th). As a sophomore Van Dievoet set the program record with a 73.09 scoring average.
• Ashley Kim started all nine events, and by a single shot finished second on the Wolverines with a 75.17 per-round average. She led U-M in four events, and highlighted her season with a U-M season- and career-best 66 (-6) -- tying the second-lowest round in program history -- in the second round of the Ruth's Chris Invitational.
• Hannah Ghelfi made big strides a year ago, starting five of the last six events for the Wolverines as well as getting the nod for her first Big Ten Championships. She averaged 77.31 per round and tied her career low (73) three times, in the second rounds of the Moon Golf Invitational (Feb. 19-20) and Meadow Club Intercollegiate (March 5-6), and the first round of the Evans Derby Experience (March 18-20).
• Alisa Snyder started three of her six total events and closed her second season playing the in final five tournaments. Setting a career best for scoring average (76.19) she carded a season-low 71 (-1) in the second round of the Big Ten Championships and tallied a career-best 36-hole tournament total (149) at the East & West Match Play stroke-play qualifier.
• Michigan welcomes three newcomers -- Sophia Trombetta, Ashley Lau and Jacqueline Young. Trombetta is a two-time OHSAA All-Ohio Division II first team selection (2016, '17) and with her medalist runner-up finish (68-74/142), she helped Independence High School to its first OSHAA Division II state title (2017). Hailing from Malaysia, Lau prepped at Hills International -- the same school current Wolverine men's golfer Chalie Pilon attended. Lau is the highest-ranked international player to commit to U-M. Coming to U-M from Singapore, Young has competed in several national events throughout southeast Asia and was a member of the Singapore Golf Association Elite Squad.
• This summer, U-M coach Jan Dowling was an assistant coach for Team International at the 2018 Arnold Palmer Cup at Evian Resort Golf Club in southeastern France. In a Ryder Cup-style tournament co-founded by Arnold Palmer and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA), the event featured top university/college golfers and matched the United States against an International team.
Inside the Maize and Blue
• Michigan made back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances and advanced to the NCAA Finals in 2016 and then 2017. U-M had only one prior NCAA Finals appearance, in 2002, finishing 17th. The Wolverines tied for 18th in 2016 and followed with a tie for 16th in 2017.
• In five seasons under coach Jan Dowling, U-M has posted two top-five finishes at the Big Ten Championships,  2015 (fifth) and 2017 (fifth). Prior to Dowling's arrival, U-M had recorded just eight total top-five finishes at the conference tournament. Dowling's squad just missed a third top-five in 2016 when it finished sixth.
• Elodie Van Dievoet had a remarkable 2017 postseason for the Wolverines. After winning the Big Ten individual title, her dramatic 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole at the Columbus Regional helped send U-M to the NCAA Finals for a second straight season and gave her a top-10 individual finish (T9th). In the finals, she recorded the highest individual finish for a Wolverine (T4th), and paced U-M to its best finish at the championships (T16th).
Next on the Tee
• Mon-Tue., Oct. 1-2 -- Windy City Classic (Chicago, Ill.)
• Fri-Sun., Oct. 12-14 -- Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Players Mentioned
