Michigan Golf Journal September 2021

practice with her the first day we were out here. We talked a lot while we were here, and it helped me.” Rossi said the call she got from her MSU teammates and coaches, especially after her quarterfinal win, was one of her most special moments of the tournament. “They all called me, together, from Lasch (Golf Center),” Rossi said. “It was so great, and it made me feel so good. I just said, ‘thank you for being here for me!’” Rossi finished the two-round stroke play portion of the event tied for 12 th place. Plata tied for 29 th , also advancing to match play. But it was Rossi’s turn to reach the final four. “The U.S. Amateur was very important way to end my summer, for the fall and spring golf,” Rossi said. “More than 1,000 girls tried for the U.S. Amateur. So, this tournament is really hard. To be exempt for the next two years is really important, and Valery is exempt for next year too.” Slobodnik-Stoll plans to make Rossi’s comment about feeling she ‘could do it, too’ a main theme within the entire program this fall. As far as the coaching staff is concerned, it’s become an expectation. “Even though Valentina said (at the tournament), ‘this is not what I expected,’ that’s one thing we’ll be talking about as a team this year; we need to expect this,” Slobodnik-Stoll told me. “If we want to win a national championship, we have to have those expectations. “As much as we’ve watched (this team) play and we know what they’re capable of, at any one time, all these kids are capable of doing what the two of them have done. I think now it’s just more ammunition for the other Continues on next page >> 29 September 2021 www.michigangolfjournal.com Valentina Rossi