This Week in Michigan Women's Golf: Gators Invitational

» Michigan will conclude its spring break trip playing in Florida's Gators Invitational at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville.
» The Wolverines are coming off a fourth-place finish at Miami's Hurricane Invitational, where Ashley Kim won her first collegiate event with a 215 (-1).
» Following her victory in Coral Gables, Kim was named the Big Ten Golfer of the Week. Kim's honor is the second of the season after Mikaela Schulz earned the honor on Oct. 2.
» Michigan's starting five features one junior, two sophomores and two freshmen.

THIS WEEK
Sat-Sun., March 7-8 -- at Gators Invitational (Gainesville, Florida)
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Next on the Tee: Gators Invitational

The University of Michigan women's golf team will continue its spring-break trip, closing the Florida visit with a stop in Gainesville on Saturday and Sunday (March 7-8), to compete in Florida's Gators Invitational. The two-day, 54-hole tournament will feature a 12-team field and will be held at the Mark Bostick Golf Course. Scoring for the Gators Invitational will be five players, count the low four scores. Selected teams will be allowed individuals, including the Wolverines. The Bostick Course will be set up for a par 70 at 6,701 yards.

The Gators Invitational Field

There will be 12 teams competing in the Gators Invitational, including No. 62 Campbell, No. 43 Central Florida, Daytona State, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, No. 9 Florida, No. 91 Kansas, No. 44 Michigan, No. 81 Penn State, No. 79 South Florida, No. 51 Tennessee and No. 26 Virginia Tech.

The Gators Invitational Schedule

Friday, March 6 -- Practice Round, 9:10 a.m.
Saturday, March 7 -- First Round (18), 8:15 a.m. (shotgun)
Saturday, March 7 -- Second Round (18), continuous play after completion of first round
Sunday, March 8 -- Final Round (18), 9 a.m. (shotgun)

The Gators Invitational Lineup

Michigan will travel five starters and two individuals for the Gators Invitational. Junior Ashley Kim, sophomore Ashley Lau, freshman Mikaela Schulz, sophomore Sophia Trombetta and freshman Hailey Borja will make up the Wolverines starting group while freshman Anika Dy and senior Hannah Ghelfi will play as individuals.

Wolverine Bites

• U-M head coach Jan Dowling is not backing down from going head-to-head with the best programs in the nation. In six events this season, the competition has ranked as some of the best in the country. Michigan is ranked No. 44 by Golfweek and No. 50 by the Golfstat rankings.
• Windy City Collegiate Championships (10 of 15 teams in top 25)
• Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational (13 of 18 teams in top 50)
• Landfall Tradition (13 of 18 teams in top 50, all in the top 100)
• IJGA Collegiate Invitational (12 of 14 teams in top 50)
• Hurricane Invitational (five of 12 teams in top 50, all in top 100)
• Gators Invitational (four of 12 teams in top 50, nine total in top 100)

• Michigan's lineup features just one upperclassman, two sophomores and two freshman. Junior Ashley Kim (25 career starts) will play in the No. 1 spot for a third straight week, while sophomore Ashley Lau makers the 19th straight start of her career. Rounding out the starting five are freshman Hailey Borja (seventh start), freshman Mikaela Schulz (fourth start) and sophomore Sophia Trombetta (11th career start).

• Ashley Kim has been red hot to start the spring season. She won her first collegiate event at the Hurricane Invitational and earned co-medalist honors following a 215 (-1) tally. Kim's performance led to being named the Big Ten Golfer of the Week on Wednesday (March 4). Opening the spring, she earned a top-10 finish at the IJGA Collegiate Invitational, tying for eighth with a season-low 213 (-3) total. In six spring rounds, she has posted four par or sub-par rounds, including a season-low tying 69 (-3) in each of the first two events. With those rounds, she has taken over the U-M scoring lead with a 72.94 per-round average.

• Kim has posted back-to-back sub-par 54-hole totals with her 213 (-3) at the IJGA Collegiate Invitational and her 215 (-1) at the Hurricane Invitational. With her 214 (-2) tally at the Shirley Spork Invitational, Kim owns three of U-M's four sub-par 54-hole totals. She leads the Wolverines with a 218.83 54-hole average.

• It has been quite a start for freshman Hailey Borja. In the fall season, she posted seven rounds at par or better in her 12 rounds. She started the spring season posting a career-low 70 (-2) in the final round of the IJGA Collegiate Invitational. Overall, she has two top-20 finishes, is averaging 222.00 per 54-hole event and ranks second on U-M with a 74.00 per-round average.

• Borja's fourth-place tie at the Glass City Invitational was the best opening tournament finish for a U-M freshman since 1995. The previous best was by Sharon Park, who finished fifth in her collegiate debut at the Spartan Invitational (Sept. 16-17), exactly 24 years before Borja's performance.

• Like last season, Ashley Lau has quietly gone about her work on the golf course. She is averaging 75.00 per round as she has produced 15 of her 18 rounds at 76 or lower. She has averaged 225.40 per 54-hole event.

• In her first career start, freshman Anika Dy fired a career-low 70 (-2) in the opening round at the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational. Carrying that momentum, she led the Wolverines for the first time in her career as she tied for 27th with a 217 (+1) tally. She has started the last three events for the Wolverines and is averaging 74.53 strokes per round.

• Freshman Mikaela Schulz was the Big Ten Golfer of the Week on Oct. 2 after she won the Shirley Spork EMU Invitational with a 212 (-4) tally in her collegiate debut. Playing as an individual, Schulz bogeyed her first hole before rattling off seven birdies for a first-round 68 (-4), tying the 10th-lowest round in U-M history. She followed with back-to-back scores of 72 to claim the title over teammate Ashley Kim (214, -2). She is averaging 74.83 per round.

• Seven of the nine Wolverines this season have recorded a sub-par round tally. Schulz owns the team's season low with a 68 (-4) in her first collegiate round at the Shirley Spork EMU Invitational. Overall, Ashley Kim leads with six, while Sophia Trombetta and Anika Dy each have three.