Michigan
IJGA Collegiate Invitational
Strong Final Round Helps Michigan Tie for 11th at IJGA Collegiate Invitational
2/18/2020 2:06:00 PM | Women's Golf
» Combining for its lowest event team total (291), Michigan moved up two positions on the final day of the IJGA Collegiate Invitational and tied for 11th with an 886 54-hole tally.
» Ashley Kim posted her season-low, 54-hole event total with a 213 (-3) and cracked the top 10 individually (T-8th). She has recorded two of the three sub-par 54-hole tallies this season.
» Hailey Borja rallied in the final round with the help of four birdies to help her card a career-low 70 (-2). After opening with back-to-back 77s, she tied for 42nd at 224.
» The Wolverines had four underclassmen in the lineup -- three freshmen and one sophomore.
» The 14-team field featured 12 teams ranked among the nation's top 50.
Site: Guadalajara, Mexico
Course: Guadalajara Country Club (Par 72, 6,437 yards)
Tournament: The IJGA Collegiate Invitational
U-M Team Standing: Tie-11th Place of 14 Teams (302-293-291/886)
Top U-M Individual: Ashley Kim, T-8th (70-69-74/213, -3)
Next U-M Event: Mon-Tue., March 2-3 -- Hurricane Invitational (Coral Gables, Fla.)
GUADALAJARA, Mexico -- With a season-low 213 (-3) and top-10 individual performance from junior Ashley Kim, the University of Michigan women's golf team opened its spring season tying for 11th with an 886 54-hole tournament total at Virginia's IJGA Collegiate Invitational at the Guadalajara Country Club.
"We were able to play more consistent throughout the tournament, which was great," said U-M head coach Jan Dowling. "There was some really solid golf in stretches for our team, we made a lot of birdies. We've got to make some better course-management decisions and get a bit sharper with our wedges, then we are off to the races. It feels so great to be on course competing as a team again, and we have an important stretch coming up with three events in March.
"Ashley Kim played a pretty darn classy tournament. To finish three-under par for the event, and break 70 in the second round is impressive. She has really worked hard on her swing for the past 8-10 months, and she's starting to reap the rewards of her focused work. We are super proud of her, and it's exciting."
After three months away from competition, the Wolverines headed to Mexico for the first of six spring events. With 12 of the 14 teams ranked among the top 50 in the nation, the Maize and Blue got off to a slower-than-expected start tallying an opening 302 team score. That total put the Wolverines in 14th place after 18 holes, despite Kim's first-round 70 (-2) which put her among the top five individually.
With Kim's fifth sub-par round (69, -3) of the season pacing play in the second round, and adding in freshman Mikaela Schulz's even-par 72, the Wolverines dropped nine strokes from a day earlier posting a 293, but remained in the 14th position. In a unique format change to the event, the second day would end with the entire field playing the first nine holes of the final round, allowing for closing ceremonies and easier travel plans back to the United States.
Returning for a final nine holes, freshman Hailey Borja rallied. She opened with back-to-back 77s, but used four birdies to card a career-low 70 (-2) in the final round -- just her second sub-par round of her rookie campaign. Despite a slow start to her final round, Kim made three birdies to finish her final nine holes at a one-under 74 which was good for an eighth-place tie with a season-low 213 (-3) event total.
With a 73 (+1) from sophomore Ashley Lau and another 74 (+2) from freshman Anika Dy, the Wolverines delivered in the final round to yield a 291 total and move up two positions to tie for 11th with California 54-hole totals of 886.
In addition to Kim producing her second and U-M's fifth top-10 individual finish of the season, Borja cracked the top 50 with a tie for 42nd (224), while Dy rounded out Michigan's top three with a tie for 55th (229).
The Wolverines will begin their March schedule with a trip to Coral Gables, Florida, to play in Miami's Hurricane Invitational, Monday and Tuesday (March 2-3). The two-day, 54-hole event will be played at the Biltmore course. In U-M's last appearance (2017), the Wolverines finished as the runner-up as former Wolverines Elodie Van Dievoet and Emily White both tied for third individually.
Team Standings
 1. Virginia        287-289-280 = 856 (-8)  2. LSU             288-284-286 = 858  3. South Carolina  290-281-292 = 863  4. Arizona State   292-288-289 = 869  5. Stanford        286-288-297 = 871    Florida State   293-287-291 = 871  7. Baylor          285-293-295 = 873  8. Maryland        301-281-294 = 876  9. Texas A&M       293-290-297 = 880 10. Arkansas        293-292-296 = 881 11. MICHIGAN        302-293-291 = 886    California      296-294-296 = 886 13. Clemson         293-298-303 = 894 14. Tennessee       297-296-306 = 899
Top Individuals
 1. Amanda Doherty, Florida State             70-68-68 = 206 (-10)  2. Ingrid Lindblad, LSU                      66-70-71 = 207  3. Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, South Carolina  73-69-67 = 209  4. Beatrice Wallin, Florida State            68-72-70 = 210    Elodie Chapelet, Baylor                   68-70-72 = 210  6. Linn Grant, Arizona State                 74-67-70 = 211    Beth Lillie, Virginia                     70-71-70 = 211  8. ASHLEY KIM, U-M                           70-69-74 = 213    Aline Krauter, Stanford                   76-68-69 = 213
Other Michigan Individuals
T42. Hailey Borja    77-77-70 = 224 T55. Anika Dy        80-75-74 = 229 T57. Mikaela Schulz  77-72-81 = 230 T62. Ashley Lau      78-80-73 = 231
Players Mentioned
