Michigan Golf Journal September 2021

Plata and Rossi Help Change the Culture at MSU U.S. Women’s Amateur Semifinalists shows a trend Rossi, of Argentina, pulled off an incredible feat by reaching the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur a few weeks ago , making her the second consecutive Spartan to reach that national plateau. The summer prior in 2020, Plata, of Colombia, was the first MSU woman ever to do so. Not many colleges in America can say they’ve had a golfer reach the final four of the nation’s top woman’s amateur tournament in back-to-back years. The Spartan teammates shared a lot of time together at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y. after a Covid- shortened college golf season. Plata provided a lot of wisdom for Rossi about the national amateur, which she transferred into stellar play on the course with incredible putting and an infectious smile radiating across the TV screen all week, even after a few misses. “Valery being in the semifinals last year gave me a feeling that I could do it, too,” Rossi said during tournament week. “It was great to Valery Plata and Valentina Rossi are two clear examples of how the culture is changing at Michigan State University. Not the culture of ‘family’ – that one has always been a bedrock trait with the Spartans’ women’s program under the long- time leadership of Stacy Slobodnik Stoll – but literally the culture as in more foreign players have been joining the program. Michigan Golf Journal College C rner By Tom Lang Valery Plata