Career-Best Effort by Thompson Jumps Men's Golf to Fourth at Wolf Run

Sunday, September 13

Zionsville, Ind.

8:30 AM

Michigan

Wolf Run Intercollegiate

Matt Thompson set a new best with his eight-under 205 performance at Wolf Run.

Career-Best Effort by Thompson Jumps Men's Golf to Fourth at Wolf Run

9/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

Sept. 13, 2009

Site: Zionsville, Ind.
Course: Wolf Run Country Club (par 71, 7,195 yards)
Tournament: Wolf Run Intercollegiate
U-M Standing: 4th Place of 17 Teams (293-294-287/874)
Top U-M Individual: Matt Thompson, 3rd (69-69-67/205)
Next Event: Sat-Sun., Sept. 26-27 -- host, Wolverine at Radrick Farms (Ann Arbor, Mich.)

ZIONSVILLE, Ind. -- Using three straight sub-70 rounds, sophomore Matt Thompson (Battle Creek, Mich./Lakeview HS) tallied a career-best eight-under 205 to finish third individually today (Sunday, Sept. 13) and help the 21st-ranked University of Michigan men's golf team jump five spots and close fourth at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate at the Wolf Run Country Club.

Opening with team totals of 293 and 294 in yesterday's 36-hole day, the Wolverines found themselves in ninth with a 587 total. Using a five-under 67 from Thompson and an even-par 71 from freshman Rahul Bakshi (Chandigarh, India/St. John's HS), the Maize and Blue rallied with a three-over 287 closing effort to vault into the top-five with an 874 tally.

Thompson was the catalyst for the Maize and Blue as he shattered his prior 54-hole tournament best, posting an eight-under 205 this weekend to tie for the second-best performance ever in U-M history. Using back-to-back rounds of two-under 69, Thompson put himself in contention for medalist honors and gave it a final push with a career-best four-under 67 in the final round, but closed third. North Florida's Sean Dale won at 11-under 202 (66-69-67) and Illinois' Scott Langley was the runner-up at 10-under 203 (68-66-69). The trio were the only three golfers to post three straight sub-70 rounds.

After a slow start, junior Lion Kim (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary Prep School) improved with each round as he tied for 42nd at 226 (78-75-73), along with freshman Jack Schultz (Whitefish Bay, Wis./Whitefish Bay HS), who closed his collegiate debut with rounds of 75, 75 and 76 for his 226. Fellow newcomer Bakshi rallied in the final round to finish at 227 (77-79-71) in his debut, while senior David Weisfeld (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale HS) tied for 66th (231) in his first collegiate start. Senior Billy McKay (Grand Blanc, Mich./David Leadbetter Golf Academy) played as an individual, tying for 70th (232).

The Wolverines have the upcoming weekend off as they prep for their only home event of the year. With the football team hosting Indiana for the homecoming game, the Maize and Blue will host the Wolverine at Radrick Farms Invitational, Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 26-27) at the Wolverines alternate course Radrick Farms Golf Course. The 54-hole tournament will feature a 17-team field.

Team Standings

 1. Illinois                   281-282-284 = 847 (-5) 2. North Florida              280-294-286 = 860 3. Indiana                    298-288-285 = 871 4. MICHIGAN                   293-294-287 = 874 5. Iowa State                 290-294-291 = 875 6. Central Floria             286-289-301 = 876 7. Tulsa                      302-282-296 = 880 8. Penn State                 292-292-298 = 882 9. Kansas State               297-289-299 = 88510. Louisville                 296-302-288 = 88611. Eastern Michigan           296-297-299 = 89212. Purdue                     305-293-297 = 89513. Ball State                 306-287-306 = 89914. Missouri                   301-295-304 = 90015. Kentucky                   303-306-302 = 91116. Toledo                     299-315-305 = 91917. IUPUI                      333-332-339 = 1004

Top Individuals

 1. Sean Dale, North Florida         66-69-67 = 202 (-11) 2. Scott Langley, Illinois          68-66-69 = 203 3. Matt Thompson, U-M               69-69-67 = 205 4. David Erdy, Indiana              74-71-65 = 210 5. Mitchell Gregson, Kansas State   72-68-71 = 211    Joe Kinney, Kansas State         70-69-72 = 211 7. Luke Guthrie, Illinois           70-71-73 = 214    Nuno Henriques, Central Florida  70-68-76 = 214 9. Chase Wright, Indiana            74-70-71 = 21510. Ben Herrer, Iowa State           74-76-67 = 217    Cam Burke, Eastern Michigan      73-70-74 = 217    Kevin Phelan, North Florida      72-73-72 = 217    Brad Schneider, Central Florida  71-73-73 = 217    Chris Biuso, Louisville          70-76-71 = 217

Other Michigan Individuals

T42. Lion Kim                  78-75-73 = 226T42. Jack Schultz              75-75-76 = 226T47. Rahul Bakshi              77-79-71 = 227T66. David Weisfeld            72-75-84 = 231T70. Billy McKay               82-71-79 = 232*

* played as individual

N O T E S

• Matt Thompson's career-best eight-under 205 (69-69-67) performance at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate tied the second best 54-hole tournament total in U-M history. Thompson equaled Christian Vozza's 205 (67-69-69) performance that he tallied at the 2005 Wolverine Intercollegiate (Sept. 24-25). Overall, Bill Rankin holds the U-M record with an eight-under 202 (67-66-69) at the 2008 Maxwell (May 10-11).

• Matt Thompson set a new single round career best with his four-under 67 in the final round of the Wolf Run Intercollegiate. He topped the three-under 68 he had in his very first collegiate round at the 2008 Wolverine Intercollegiate (Sept. 20-21).

• Matt Thompson made it two straight seasons setting a new career best in the very first event. With his eight-under 205 in the 2009-10 season opening tournament, he shattered his previous best 54-hole tournament total of one-under 212, which was in his collegiate debut last year at the 2008 Wolverine Intercollegiate (Sept. 20-21).

• Matt Thompson is the first Wolverine to post three straight sub-70 rounds in a tournament since Bill Rankin set the U-M record with a 202 (67-66-69) at the 2008 Maxwell (May 10-11), nearly two seasons ago. Thompson closed with back-to-back rounds of 69 followed with a career-best 67.

• David Weisfeld started his first collegiate event at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate. Prior to his start he had played in three events -- all as an individual.

• Newcomers Rahul Bakshi and Jack Schultz made their collegiate debuts at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate. Schultz closed tied for 42nd with a 226 debut tally, while Baskhi was a stroke behind at 227, tying for 47th.

•Michigan snapped its two-year streak of successes at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate, but not by much. Two years ago, former Wolverine Nick Pumford won medalist honors as an individual with a six-under 210, 54-hole event tally. Last year, the Wolverines took the team title with an 880 total, 10 shots better than runner-up Illinois.

Q U O T E S

Michigan coach Andrew Sapp
On the tournament weekend ... "There were some good things and some bad things that we did. David (Weisfeld) starting us off with a 72 helped us out tremendously in the first round. It was great to see Rahul (Bakshi) come back with an even-par 71 in the final round. The course was playing long and tough today. Those were two positives. However, the story of the weekend was Matt (Thompson). He really is coming off a great summer, bringing a lot of momentum into the fall and to shoot three rounds in the 60s on that golf course is really tremendous. Having to have two players play unbelievable golf to beat him says something. I would have never thought a 205 would be third going into this tournament. I am really proud of his effort, and he really carried us this entire tournament."

On being one of the "hunted" early in the season ... "Golf is not really a sport where you play offense and defense -- where those are the deciding factors. You just go out and play the golf course, add up your scores and then compare them to everyone else. So, maybe there is a little bit more of the attitude that we have higher expectations, but we should. Sometimes that can be good for you and sometimes that can be bad for you. We haven't had much practice since school started. I am looking forward to getting another week and a half to two weeks of good practice in and get the guys more adjusted to being back in school and playing well at our home event at Radrick Farms."

On early battle of Big Ten teams this weekend ... "Our conference has gotten so much stronger in the past few years. With so many teams that made it to a regional and then to nationals, there is a lot of momentum for the Big Ten. Teams like Illinois return everyone from a Big Ten Championship team last year, Indiana is going to be strong on its home turf and Penn State has the bulk of its lineup returning this year. All three of those were at this event and faired very well. It is one of those things, even early on in the season, you want to knock off some of your Big Ten opponents to get those head-to-head wins over other teams in the conference. It is a matter of pride. You want to go out and win every tournament, but you want to beat as many teams as possible each week."

On the areas of improvement before the home event at Radrick ... "I saw a lot of bad putting this weekend. I saw some good ball striking. But there were some putts out there that cost us because we didn't make them. We will do a lot of putting. Honestly, Radrick Farms is a good course where you have to hit it straight. To a certain degree it is going to be the team that putts the best that is going to win the tournament. So, if we can roll the ball well in two weeks, we should fare well, but we have a lot of work to do before then."

Sophomore Matt Thompson
On his tournament weekend ... "I felt good this weekend, pretty much where I left off from this summer after the U.S. Am. I got off to a good start in the first round. Kind of hacked it around a little bit for about four or five holes, but I was able to settle it down. After that I kept hitting it better and better and then it was a matter of making putts. I was able to get a bunch to drop and that was a big key. It felt good to get back to playing college golf."

On where U-M goes from here ... "It was nice to get back to a reasonable finish and be able to jump five spots today was huge. Fourth place was nice after our start. We definitely felt we could have played a lot better. So, I am sure we will get a couple weeks of good practice in and play well in our own tournament."

Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423