Michigan Golf Journal September 2019

Michigan Golf Journal College Corner, Season Previews Western Michigan Women: Jasmine Chee, credit GS Photo/WMU Athletics Jami Laude Western Michigan begins its fourth season under alum and head coach Elise Swartout- Mosher. The 2019-20 team is led by senior Jasmine Chee. The Hong Kong native has averaged 76.94 per round through her 28 career tournaments. Chee has two career tournament wins to her name, including the 2019 Low Country Invitational. Chee is joined by junior Cameryn Lucia and sophomores Fiona Wang and Brooke Gibbons. Freshman Alissa Bish joins the team after a stellar high school career that saw her win back-to-back Division 4 State Championships in Michigan (Columbia Central High School). Bish was also a two-time All-State selection and named to the 2018 All-State Super Team. England international Imogen Courtney joins the team as a sophomore after playing one season at Wayne State University. WMU also continues its tradition of hosting the annual Rio Verde Invitational at the Rio Verde Country Club in Arizona. This season will mark the 18th edition of the tournament, all hosted by the Broncos. Central Michigan enjoyed the best year in its relatively short women’s golf history in 2018- 19, posting five top-5 finishes in 11 stroke-play events, and setting team and individual scoring marks seemingly every time it teed it up. Second-year coach Jim Earle faces the challenge of replacing two program mainstays, Bria Colosky and Danielle Sawyer, both of whom were part of the core that has “grown up” as the program, which was resurrected in 2014-15 after a 30-year hiatus, has matured. Juniors Jami Laude of Ann Arbor and Meghan Deardorff of Clarkston are the top returning veterans, and give Earle a pair of veterans to lean on as a standout incoming freshman class finds its way. Laude is CMU’s career scoring leader, averaging 78.14. The incoming class has an international flavor including Austrian Zoe Varytan and Spaniard Claudia Salvador. That duo joins Clarkston natives Danielle Staskowski and Ashley Liles along with Padgett Chitty of Valdosta, Ga., in forming the program’s recent and best recruiting class. Central Michigan Women: By Adam Bodnar By Andy Sneddon