For the past few seasons the University of Minnesota women’s golf team has relied primarily on home-grown talent to fill their roster. With the arrival of three freshmen this year who are all from out of state, the Golden Gophers will have a bit more of a foreign flavor during the 2006 season.

This year’s freshmen class includes Young Na Lee, a native of Tamuning, Guam, Sydney Liles, who hails from Phoenix, Ariz., and Suvi Mantyniemi, from Teijo, Finland. While they come from all different parts of the world, these freshmen share a common goal to help Minnesota’s golf program reach an elite level.

Each of these individuals brings impressive credentials to the Golden Gopher squad. Lee finished 35th at the 2005 Callaway Junior World Championships while Liles won the Arizona State Girls Championship last summer and Mantyniemi finished seventh at the 2005 Finnish Amateur Open. Together they comprise the deepest and most talented freshmen class in head coach Katie Hanneman’s tenure.

The transition to college life inevitably presents numerous challenges for any freshman, but coming from such distant parts of the world, these three individuals were faced with some major adjustments upon their arrival on the University of Minnesota campus. Not only were they in for a major climate change, but they had to adapt to a completely different lifestyle. Each of them cited the distance required to travel between classes and the substantial amount of time dedicated to studying as their most difficult adjustment. However, they understand it is part of growing up.

“There are 50,000 other students who have to deal with the same things,” Lee said. “So you just have to suck it up.”

Along with the natural adjustments to college life, playing golf at the Division I level has certainly presented its own challenges. Not only are the courses much more difficult, but the pressure is substantially greater.

“It’s so much more intense,” Liles stated. “You come from a team where you were the number one player, and now you’re playing against people who were all number one on their team in high school.”

The transition to college has been much easier due to the help of coaches and teammates. The freshmen have learned the importance of thinking positive and staying confident, and they know they have a tremendous supporting cast to back them up.

“You always feel like you have to play well because you don’t want to let your teammates down,” Mantyniemi added. “But you have to just concentrate on your own game and not worry about what anybody else is doing.”

The freshmen are expected to contribute immediately, and they displayed their potential to put up great scores earlier this year during the fall season. However, they know if they are going to accomplish their goals of leading the Gophers to the top of the Big Ten and ultimately to the NCAA tournament they still have a lot of work to do. “Every one of us can play well and shoot good scores,” Mantyniemi said. “We just haven’t all done it in the same tournament. Everyone just has to play their best, and eventually it will come together.”

These Gopher freshmen undoubtedly possess immense talent on the golf course and are looking forward to having the opportunity to compete against some of the best golfers in the nation. They naturally have individual goals and would like to improve their own games, but if they have a common aspiration it is to lead the Golden Gophers to the NCAA tournament.

“We all came her to get this program to the next level,” said Liles. “We have a lot of work ahead of us, be we’re confident we’ll get the job done.” For the past few seasons the University of Minnesota women’s golf team has relied primarily on home-grown talent to fill their roster. With the arrival of three freshmen this year who are all from out of state, the Golden Gophers will have a bit more of a foreign flavor during the 2006 season.

This year’s freshmen class includes Young Na Lee, a native of Tamuning, Guam, Sydney Liles, who hails from Phoenix, Ariz., and Suvi Mantyniemi, from Teijo, Finland. While they come from all different parts of the world, these freshmen share a common goal to help Minnesota’s golf program reach an elite level.

Each of these individuals brings impressive credentials to the Golden Gopher squad. Lee finished 35th at the 2005 Callaway Junior World Championships while Liles won the Arizona State Girls Championship last summer and Mantyniemi finished seventh at the 2005 Finnish Amateur Open. Together they comprise the deepest and most talented freshmen class in head coach Katie Hanneman’s tenure.

The transition to college life inevitably presents numerous challenges for any freshman, but coming from such distant parts of the world, these three individuals were faced with some major adjustments upon their arrival on the University of Minnesota campus. Not only were they in for a major climate change, but they had to adapt to a completely different lifestyle. Each of them cited the distance required to travel between classes and the substantial amount of time dedicated to studying as their most difficult adjustment. However, they understand it is part of growing up.

“There are 50,000 other students who have to deal with the same things,” Lee said. “So you just have to suck it up.”

Along with the natural adjustments to college life, playing golf at the Division I level has certainly presented its own challenges. Not only are the courses much more difficult, but the pressure is substantially greater.

“It’s so much more intense,” Liles stated. “You come from a team where you were the number one player, and now you’re playing against people who were all number one on their team in high school.”

The transition to college has been much easier due to the help of coaches and teammates. The freshmen have learned the importance of thinking positive and staying confident, and they know they have a tremendous supporting cast to back them up.

“You always feel like you have to play well because you don’t want to let your teammates down,” Mantyniemi added. “But you have to just concentrate on your own game and not worry about what anybody else is doing.”

The freshmen are expected to contribute immediately, and they displayed their potential to put up great scores earlier this year during the fall season. However, they know if they are going to accomplish their goals of leading the Gophers to the top of the Big Ten and ultimately to the NCAA tournament they still have a lot of work to do. “Every one of us can play well and shoot good scores,” Mantyniemi said. “We just haven’t all done it in the same tournament. Everyone just has to play their best, and eventually it will come together.”

These Gopher freshmen undoubtedly possess immense talent on the golf course and are looking forward to having the opportunity to compete against some of the best golfers in the nation. They naturally have individual goals and would like to improve their own games, but if they have a common aspiration it is to lead the Golden Gophers to the NCAA tournament.

“We all came her to get this program to the next level,” said Liles. “We have a lot of work ahead of us, be we’re confident we’ll get the job done.”