Michigan
Johnny Owens Invitational
U-M Battles Weather to Take 12th in Kentucky Tourney
3/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Even with high winds creating a wind chill near freezing, four Wolverines carded five-over 77s in the final round today (Sunday, March 30) as the University of Michigan men's golf team tallied its second straight team total of 308 and finished 12th at the Johnny Owens Invitational at the Kentucky's University Club. The Maize and Blue shot 318 and 308 Saturday and totaled 934 for the 54-hole tournament total.
Michigan's team score of 308 in the final round was the fourth best score of the day, trailing only Xavier (304), Vanderbilt (306) and Indiana (306), and helped the Wolverines move up one spot from their 13th-place standing after 36 holes. U-M was one of six teams tightly bunched from seventh place (930) to 12th (934) in the middle of the 15-team field.
Junior Dave Nichols (Mesa, Ariz./Rochester Adams HS, Mich.) and redshirt freshman Mark McIntosh (Gaylord, Mich./Gaylord HS) led the Wolverine charge as they tied for 22nd at 231, a career-best finish for McIntosh. Nichols shot 78-76-77 to give him a 231 total for the third consecutive tournament. After an opening 81, McIntosh came roaring back in the second round with a one-over 73 -- the Wolverines' lowest tournament total -- and closed with 77 for his 231 total.
Senior/junior Scott Carlton (Brighton, Mich./Brighton HS) finished with a 237 tournament total (81-79-77), which was good for a tie for 46th and a new season best, while junior/sophomore Rob Tighe (Traverse City, Mich./West HS) was a single stroke behind Carlton with a 238 three-day total (78-83-77), which tied him for 50th. Redshirt freshman Jimmy Wisinski (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Northern HS) tied for 67th at 243 as he lowered his tallies each round, going 84-80-79.
Playing as an individual, freshman Bruce Svechota-Kingsbury (Ann Arbor, Mich./Greenhills School) had U-M's best score in the final round (75) and finished with a 236 total (83-78-75) to tie for 39th, a career-best placing.
Vanderbilt maintained its first-day lead to finish at 903 (298-299-306), three strokes ahead of runner-up Indiana (298-302-306/906). Host Kentucky (301-298-311/910) was third. Indiana's Heath Peters (70-75-75) held onto the individual lead to win medalist honors with a 220 total. Louisville's Brett Jones (75-76-71) and Indiana's Jeff Overton (72-75-75) tied for the runner-up spot with 222 totals.
Michigan will take two weeks off before heading into Big Ten country Saturday and Sunday, April 12-13, for the Kepler Invitational in Columbus, Ohio. The 54-hole tournament will be played on Ohio State's Scarlet Course.
Team Standings
1. Vanderbilt 298-299-306 = 903 (+39) 2. Indiana 298-302-306 = 906 3. Kentucky 301-298-311 = 910 4. Eastern Kentucky 313-296-311 = 920 5. Arkansas-Little Rock 302-307-314 = 923 6. Xavier 309-311-304 = 924 7. Miami (Ohio) 309-298-323 = 930 Louisville 315-306-309 = 930 9. Western Kentucky 310-304-318 = 932 Ball State 313-304-315 = 932 11. Notre Dame 313-302-318 = 933 12. MICHIGAN 318-308-308 = 934 13. Ohio 312-307-322 = 941 14. Marshall 317-318-317 = 952 15. Morehead State 320-318-323 = 961
Top Individuals
1. Heath Peters, Indiana 70-75-75 = 220 (+4) 2. Brett Jones, Louisville 75-76-71 = 222 Jeff Overton, Indiana 72-75-75 = 222 4. Miles Maillet, Xavier 75-78-71 = 224 Brandon Waldrop, Kentucky 73-73-78 = 224 6. Scott Gustafson, Notre Dame 74-72-79 = 225 Patrick Wilkes-Keier, Ball State 76-73-76 = 225 8. Brandon Brown, Eastern Kentucky 79-71-76 = 226 Ken Lewis, Vanderbilt 73-77-76 = 226 Ryan Coyne, Kentucky 74-74-78 = 226 11. Luke Bakke, Arkansas-Little Rock 72-78-77 = 227 Brian Harger, Xavier 73-75-79 = 227
Michigan Individual Scores
T22. Dave Nichols 78-76-77 = 231 T22. Mark McIntosh 81-73-77 = 231 T46. Scott Carlton 81-79-77 = 237 T50. Rob Tighe 78-83-77 = 238 T67. Jimmy Wisinski 84-80-79 = 243 T39. Bruce Svechota-Kingsbury* 83-78-75 = 236 * Played as an individual
N O T E S
Both Mark McIntosh and Bruce Svechota-Kingsbury had career-best finishes at the Johnny Owens Invitational. McIntosh, who tied for 22nd, topped his tie for 31st he had at the Wolverine Invitational (Oct. 5-6). Svechota-Kingsbury, who tied for 39th, bettered his 69th-placing showing at the Ridges (Sept. 14-15).
Dave Nichols has fired 10 straight rounds under the 80-stroke barrier. He has shot 80 or above just has three times this season.
Nichols, Mark McIntosh and Rob Tighe have competed in all nine tournaments this season.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Andrew Sapp
On the tournament ... "Yesterday we didn't play very well, we didn't play very good team golf. Today with the conditions -- how cold it was and with the wind -- a 308 wasn't too bad. It was a much better 308 then yesterday's 308. We finished the final round much better than we have in recent weeks. We kind of gutted it out on a tough day. We kept our doubles, triples and quads away, which was something we weren't able to do Saturday. We had a lot of big numbers in the first two rounds. Today we were able to just hang in there and grind out some solid scores with the tough weather conditions."
On the weather being a factor ... "The golf course is a links-style type, so there really aren't a whole lot of trees and the wind was just making some of the holes really difficult to even reach. The par fours were barely reachable in two. I think a couple of guys were hitting 3-woods into the par fours yesterday, and this morning, with the way the wind was blowing, it was difficult just to get your tee shot to the fairway. Whereas the other day in the practice round, we had the wind behind us and we were hitting it about 40 yards away from the green. It was just such a different golf course from the practice round to the final round."
Junior Dave Nichols
On the tournament ... "I think is could be a good steppingstone for us. Without question this was our best tournament so far. All five guys played pretty solidly throughout the entire tournament."
On his play in the tournament ... "For me individually, even though the scores might not reflect it, I played pretty solid. Nothing great, but no terrible rounds for the last three days, especially with the conditions we had to play in. You would not have believed how cold it was this morning warming up. I couldn't even feel my hands or really my swing at all. I was definitely satisfied shooting 77 today."
On the weather being a factor ... "It was tough. I mean, especially when in the practice round on Friday we were wearing shorts and it was 75 degrees. Then it just changed. It was cold and the wind was just so, so tough. I was probably driving the ball 340 during the practice round and then I would hit the same drive during the tournament only about 230 or 240. I had to use my woods on the par fours, which is something I haven't really done in about five, six years. Then there was water all over, so if you mishit it, you are going to get a double or a triple (bogey) real quick."
Redshirt Freshman Mark McIntosh
On the tournament ... "I think all in all we didn't play great, but we certainly didn't play horrible. It is probably the best tournament of the spring so far. I think everyone played as well as they could. The conditions were so tough, you just had to grind out something. I think everyone just did a really good job of grinding out a really good score with the way the conditions were."
On his tournament ... "I just got off to a slow start; I was 10 over through my first five holes, but then I played decent the last 27 holes or so. Then today I think I played okay, didn't really make any birdies, but just kept it together. The weather conditions just made things harder."
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
