Michigan
Puerto Rico Classic
Michigan Takes 18th in Elite Field at Puerto Rico Classic
3/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico -- The University of Michigan men's golf team opened its spring season with an 18th place showing today (March 1) in the elite field, which included 10 top 25 teams as well as the top three teams in the country, at 2005 Puerto Rico Classic at the River Course at the Westin Rio Del Mar Country Club. The Maize and Blue opened with a solid 300 in Sunday's first round, and followed with a 307 on Tuesday. The Wolverines closed out with a 320 in the final round to tally a 927 54-hole tournament total.
Sophomore Matt McLaughlin (Raleigh, N.C./Millbrook HS) was the top finishing Wolverine after he tied for 65th with a 228 total. He opened with a three-over 75 in the first round and followed with a four-over 76 in the second round. In the final round, McLaughlin closed with a five-over 77. He was the only Wolverines to finish the tournament with three rounds below 80.
Freshman Brian Ottenweller (Grand Rapids, Mich./Catholic Central HS) started off in grand fashion carding back-to-back two-over 74s in the first two rounds, but just could not find his swing in the third round as he shot an 83. He tied for tied for 76th with a 231 total Fifth-year senior Rob Tighe (Traverse City, Mich./West HS) tied for 78th with a 232 total after sandwiching rounds of four-over 76s around a second round tally of 80.
Other Wolverine finishes included: junior Christian Vozza (Traverse City, Mich./Grand Rapids Baptist), was 85th with a 237 total (76-77-84) and sophomore Kevin Dore (Dundas, Ontario/St. Mary's), tied for 87th with a 243 total (75-84-84).
No. 3 Georgia Tech (280-278-287 held onto its second day lead to win the Puerto Rico Classic by four strokes over No. 15 Florida (279-283-287). The Yellow Jackets finished with a 19-under 845 while the Gators were the runner-up at 849. No. 1 Oklahoma State (282-283-285) was third with an 850 54-hole total. Arizona State's Alejandro Canizares (69-67-68) won individual medalist honors with a 12-under 204 54-hole total. Duke's Nathan Smith (70-70-69) and Florida's James Vargas (65-73-71) were the runner-up five strokes back at 209.
The Wolverines will play their second tournament of the spring season when the Maize and Blue head to Tuscaloosa, Ala., Friday through Sunday (March 11-13) for the 2005 Conrad Rehling Invitational. The 54-hole tournament will be played at Ol' Colony.
Team Standings
1. Georgia Tech 280-278-287 = 845 (-19) 2. Florida 279-283-287 = 849 3. Oklahoma State 282-283-285 = 850 4. Arizona State 284-286-287 = 857 5. Georgia 278-298-289 = 865 6. Minnesota 296-292-280 = 868 7. Duke 292-289-288 = 869 8. East Tennessee State 293-294-285 = 872 9. Clemson 280-298-295 = 873 10. Purdue 295-288-294 = 877 11. Oklahoma 287-300-297 = 884 12. Alabama 289-299-298 = 886 13. N.C. State 286-303-303 = 892 14. Kent State 301-296-300 = 897 15. Virginia Tech 301-308-294 = 903 16. Northwestern 300-307-300 = 907 17. Illinois 299-305-304 = 908 18. MICHIGAN 300-307-320 = 927
Top Individuals
1. Alejandro Canizares, Arizona State 69-67-68 = 204 (-12) 2. Nathan Smith, Duke 70-70-69 = 209 James Vargas, Florida 65-73-71 = 209 4. Pablo Martin, Oklahoma State 69-71-70 = 210 Chan Song, Georgia Tech 68-71-71 = 210 6. Nicholas Thompson, Georgia Tech 70-71-70 = 211 David Denham, Georgia 67-73-71 = 211 8. Brendon Todd, Georgia 70-73-69 = 212 Brett Stegmaier, Florida 70-70-72 = 212 Zack Robinson, Oklahoma State 68-71-73 = 212 Kendall Critchfield, Arizona State 69-69-74 = 212 12. Bronson LaCassie, Minnesota 78-68-67 = 213 Cian McNamara, East Tennessee State 69-68-76 = 213 Thomas Hagler, Alabama 74-71-68 = 213 15. Michael Barbosa, Georgia Tech 71-69-74 = 214 Tyler Leon, Oklahoma State 73-70-71 = 214 Ryan Paulson, Minnesota 70-73-71 = 214
Michigan Individual Scores
T65. Matt McLaughlin 75-76-77 = 228 T76. Brian Ottenweller 74-74-83 = 231 T78. Rob Tighe 76-80-76 = 232 85. Christian Vozza 76-77-84 = 237 T87. Kevin Dore 75-84-84 = 243
Q U O T E S
Michigan Coach Andrew Sapp
On Puerto Rico Classic ... "We played 300 on the first day and I was pleased with that because I knew we gave up some shots at the end of the round. We were easily looking at a score of 295, 296, but we just didn't finish the round very well. We played fairly poorly yesterday with a 307, but I was very impressed with the way Brian (Ottenweller) played. For not having seen this golf course he played well the first two days.
"The third round, well, we must of felt like we were in Michigan because the snowball kept rolling today. Things just kept getting worse and worse. It was just one of those situations where your confidence can unravel and get fragile when the wind is blowing and things can spiral downward really quickly if you're not careful. Bad swings can lead to triple bogeys, which they did, and once they do sometimes guys put a little too much pressure on themselves to make things up right away and lose confidence.
"I think today, across the board, was just a loss of confidence in their abilities and hopefully being here for three more days, we can work very hard and get ready for Alabama, which we leave for next Wednesday. So, we've got our work cut out for us to get back in the shape we want to be so that we can compete better than we did this week."
On regaining confidence ... "I think a lot of it is getting hard work, getting them to believe in themselves, and getting to work on our short games. That is really one of the areas we do not get to work on a whole lot in Michigan at this point in the season. When your short game is good, it is easy to have confidence in your full swing. If you hit a shot a little off line, at least you will have the confidence to get it up and down. So, a combination of all those things and just actually getting back out onto the golf course is something we can do to get back some of confidence. Like the saying goes, sometimes the best thing you can do is when you fall off the horse is to get right back on. We play early tomorrow in the morning and then practice in the afternoon. We will see what we can do in gaining some more confidence."
N O T E S
After leading the Wolverines at the Puerto Rico Classic (Feb.28-March 1), Matt McLaughlin has been the top finishing Wolverine for the second time in six total tournaments. He led the Maize and Blue in the season-opening event at the Radrick Farms Intercollegiate (Sept. 11-12).
Christian Vozza, Kevin Dore, Rob Tighe and Brian Ottenweller are the only Wolverines to have played in all six tournaments this season.
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
