Michigan
Kepler Intercollegiate
U-M Slips to 16th-Place Showing at Kepler Intercollegiate
4/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The University of Michigan men's golf team's struggles in the final round today (Sunday, April 13) dropped the Maize and Blue to a 16th-place finish at the Kepler Intercollegiate at the Ohio State Scarlet Course. The Wolverines, who were 13th after the first day of play, finished with a 941 54-hole tournament total after tallying team rounds of 308 and 311 Saturday and a final-round 322 Sunday.
Redshirt freshman Mark McIntosh (Gaylord, Mich./Gaylord HS) led the way, firing all three of his rounds under 80 -- the only Wolverine to do so -- to tie for 36th with a 231 total. He opened with a four-over 76 in the first round, followed with a 78 in the second and closed with a 77 to finish as the top Wolverine for the second straight tournament.
Junior Dave Nichols (Mesa, Ariz./Rochester Adams HS, Mich.) came out firing with a one-over 73 in the first round, but things drastically changed in the second as he struggled with his irons and carded an 84. He finished with an 80 to give him a 237 total and a tie for 64th. Junior/sophomore Rob Tighe (Traverse City, Mich./West HS) rebounded from an opening 82 to card a three-over 75 in the second round, then closed with another 82 for a 239 total, which tied him for 72nd.
Senior/junior Scott Carlton (Brighton, Mich./Brighton HS) and freshman Bruce Svechota-Kingsbury (Ann Arbor, Mich./Greenhills School) both tied for 80th with 242 tournament totals. Carlton shot back-to-back rounds of 79 followed by a final-round 84, while Svechota-Kingsbury had rounds of 80, 79 and 83.
Host Ohio State maintained its lead throughout the tournament to take home the team title with an 893 total (297-294-302), which was four shots better than runner-up Illinois, which tallied a 897 team total (299-302-296). Kentucky was third at 900 (306-301-293). Despite a final-round, four-over 76 Toledo's Brad Heaven held on to win medalist honors with a 219 total (74-69-76). Ohio State's Zach Doran (69-77-74) and Illinois' Patrick Nagle (74-73-73) tied for runner-up at 220.
The Wolverines will have a two-week hiatus from tournament play before closing their regular-season schedule Saturday and Sunday, April 26-27, at the Bruce Fossum/Spartan Invitational in East Lansing, Mich. The 54-hole tournament will be played at Forest Akers West Course.
Team Standings
1. Ohio State 297-294-302 = 893 (+3) 2. Illinois 299-302-296 = 897 3. Kentucky 306-301-293 = 900 4. Indiana 302-298-301 = 901 5. Miami (Ohio) 303-302-301 = 906 6. Kent State 306-303-298 = 907 7. Northwestern 306-304-299 = 909 Purdue 301-306-302 = 909 9. Toledo 307-294-312 = 913 10. Michigan State 309-302-306 = 917 11. Kansas State 313-303-307 = 923 12. Iowa 309-307-315 = 931 13. Notre Dame 307-318-311 = 936 Eastern Michigan 314-312-310 = 936 15. Ohio 307-313-317 = 937 16. MICHIGAN 308-311-322 = 941 17. Wisconsin 319-306-319 = 944 18. Marshall 313-316-329 = 948
Top Individuals
1. Brad Heaven, Toledo 74-69-76 = 219 (+3) 2. Zach Doran, Ohio State 69-77-74 = 220 Patrick Nagle, Illinois 74-73-73 = 220 4. James Lepp, Illinois 72-76-73 = 221 Eric Phipps, Miami (Ohio) 76-70-75 = 221 Jeff Overton, Indiana 72-71-78 = 221 Ryan Yip, Kent State 78-72-71 = 221 8. John Holmes, Kentucky 80-70-72 = 222 Peter Karmis, Purdue 73-79-70 = 222 10. Scott Anderson, Ohio State 77-71-75 = 223 Mike Calkin, Miami (Ohio) 76-74-73 = 223 David Bieterman, Ohio State* 75-74-74 = 223 * played as an individual
Michigan Individual Scores
T36. Mark McIntosh 76-78-77 = 231 T64. Dave Nichols 73-84-80 = 237 T72. Rob Tighe 82-75-82 = 239 T80. Scott Carlton 79-79-84 = 242 T80. Bruce Svechota-Kingsbury 80-79-83 = 242
N O T E S
Mark McIntosh has now led the Wolverines in three of the 10 tournaments this season, including the last two. McIntosh's shot 231 for the second straight tournament; he had the same 54-hole total at the Johnny Owens Invitational (March 29-30).
Dave Nichols' second-round 84 is his highest single-round total in his three-year career. In fact, Nichols shot 80 or above in only seven of 88 career rounds played -- five in 2002-03, one in 2001-02 and one in 2000-01.
McIntosh, Nichols and Rob Tighe are now the only Wolverines who have played in all 10 tournaments this season.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Andrew Sapp
On the Kepler Intercollegiate ... "Obviously we played horribly today. But when your two guys who have played this golf course before -- Scott (Carlton) and Dave (Nichols) -- don't play well it makes things even that more difficult. It is a challenging golf course and the pin placements were difficult, but we knew where they were going to be. When your veterans don't play well, it makes it harder on the younger guys to pick up the ball and carry it for the team. It was just a difficult weekend. We just couldn't put it together."
On the improving weather helping the Wolverines down the final stretch ... "We're going to get two good weeks of practice in and also take final exams and take care of the academics. We really shouldn't have anything in our way before we head to Michigan State. Hopefully we will be fresh mentally and definitely physically. To have two weeks to prepare for stretch run will be a positive. With good weather we should be able to get a lot of things accomplished in the next two weeks."
On looking at the final two tournaments ... "It's hard to say. Basically we are just going to look for better play for three rounds. I would love to see us go into Michigan State and post three solid rounds. We are going to need to do that because we are going to need to do that for four rounds at Big Tens. We need just look for some consistency and some solid team play."
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
