The game of golf has taken Bowling Green native Caroline Powers many places.
But in just a few weeks it will be taking the 20-year old to the other side of the globe.
Powers is one of five players selected to compete as Team U.S.A. in the World University Games Golf
Championships Aug. 17-20 in Shenzhen, China.
Powers, a Bowling Green High School graduate who will be a junior at Michigan State University in the
fall, will be competing against the best collegiate players the world has to offer. She’s joined on the
team by players from Colorado, LSU, TCU and North Carolina.
"Ever since I was little I wanted to play for Team U.S.A. … I always wanted to wear red, white and
blue," said Powers Wednesday at Forrest Creason Golf Course on the campus of BGSU.
"I’ve always wanted to represent my country and I didn’t think I’d be able to do it so soon in my
career," added Powers, stating that she always watched the Solheim Cup growing up, the LPGA’s
equivalent of the Ryder Cup.
"I’m just really excited. I have a few things I need to work on before we get over there but I hope
to get it all in line."
The World Games will cap an impressive year of golf for Powers, who set the MSU record with an 18-hole
average of 73.53 as a sophomore. She won the Lady Buckeye Invitational and finished fourth at the Big
Ten Championships, earning first-team all-conference honors.
She went on to finish sixth individually at the NCAA Division I regionals and was also sixth at the NCAA
championships.
Powers, a three-time All-Ohio selection in high school, saw immediate results at the college level,
setting the school record for 18-hole average for a freshman at 76.03.
"It was the perfect fit for me and I knew that right away," Powers said of Michigan State.
"Just being able to work well with my coaches … I think that’s pretty much why I’ve been able to
achieve what I have so far.
"I love my team," she added. "I think just enjoying going to the course every day plays a
large part in that. I think it helps when you have that support system."
Powers played a large role in the Spartans’ ninth Big Ten title in school history this past spring.
"Week in and week out, we’re playing against the top 20 teams," Powers said. "We’re
playing against better competition, but one thing our coach tries to instill in us is we’re not just
playing against the best, we’re one of the best.
"I think the biggest thing for me this year has been confidence," she added. "Instead of
just going into tournaments and saying, ‘I want to do well.’ Now it’s more like, ‘I’m going to do well,
and I know that I can.’"
As for the trip to China, Powers is looking forward to being able to see the country. She said she’s
never been outside of the United States.
Powers will be staying with her teammates in a dorm-like setting, along with the rest of the athletes at
the World University Games. Other sports that will be competing include basketball, swimming, tennis,
weight lifting and archery.
Powers said the team has plans to see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and Hong Kong. The team will be
leaving from Chicago on Aug. 10 and returning Aug. 23.
"China isn’t really a place where I would go on vacation. So that’s why I’m so excited, that it’s
somewhere that I wouldn’t typically go," she said. "I’m just excited to see the different
culture. It’s another world power. Me being a history minor, it’s especially fun."
Powers is confident in her team’s ability to play well at the tournament, but did not know much about the
competition it will be going up against. The 12-hour difference in time will also be something the team
must adapt to.
"I think we’ll do pretty well. The girls that are going have all had success in their own right, so
hopefully we’ll be able to adjust to the time change and different type of circumstances over there. But
as far as I’m concerned we’re going for the gold," she said.
As for her future, Powers, who holds a 3.8 cumulative grade-point average as an elementary education
major, has the ultimate goal of playing professionally on the LPGA.
"A dream of mine is to be on the LPGA, and I think a lot of their tournaments are going overseas …
I think it will be a good outlook as far as what my future might bring," she said.
She’s also well aware of the opportunities the game has given her, even though it’s through hard work and
countless hours improving her game that has gotten her to this point.
"(Golf) has given me my college education … a lot of friends, and good memories, especially
playing for Michigan State. We get to go to awesome places and meet so many people who can help us
out," she said. "I think more than anything it’s given me opportunities and opened up doors
for me whether golf is what I do for the rest of my life or it’s something else.
"I hope to get right out there (after college) and maybe five years from now, ten years from now, I
hope to be on the Solheim Cup team and representing the U.S. that way."