Slobodnik-Stoll Named GAM Women's Player of the Year
11/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Nov. 21, 2008
EAST LANSING, Mich. - For the second straight year, Michigan State women's golf coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll has been named the GAM (Golf Association of Michigan) Women's Player of the Year. Among her accomplishments, Slobodnik-Stoll reached the quarterfinals of the 22nd U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur in September and won her fourth consecutive GAM Mid-Amateur title over the summer. All of the GAM Players of the Year will be featured in the upcoming issue of Michigan Links magazine.
This marks the fourth time Slobodnik-Stoll has won the award, as she also took home the honor in 1996, 1998 and 2007. In addition, she has been the state amateur champion on two occasions (1996, 1998) and has qualified for the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship four times (1994, 1996, 1998, 2001).
The 1994 Michigan State graduate and two-time team captain is in her 12th season as head coach of the Spartans. Slobodnik-Stoll has led the Spartans to nine-straight NCAA Regionals, and has twice been named the Big Ten Women's Golf Coach of the Year, after leading MSU to the conference tournament title in 2001 and 2007.
Slobodnik-Stoll tied for fifth in the stroke play portion of the 2008 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur in Ann Arbor with a 3-over par 147 (74-73). In match play, she defeated Pam Harnack of Winnetka, Ill., in the first round, 3 & 1, and followed with a 2-up victory over Stacy Arnold in the round of 32.
In the round of 16, Slobodnik-Stoll beat Lisa Smego, 2-up, to advance to the quarterfinals. Slobodnik-Stoll's run ended in the semifinals, as she fell 3 & 1 to Noreen Mohler of Bethlehem, Pa.
"When I reflect back on this week, you're one of an elite group. Not everyone can say they made it to the quarterfinal," Slobodnik-Stoll told the USGA after the tournament. "To have it in my home state, to represent not just Michigan State but also the state of Michigan, it was an honor."
To read the entire article on Slobodnik-Stoll's impressive performance at the U.S. Women's Amateur, please click here.