Michigan Places Fifth at Fresno State Lexus Classic

Tuesday, March 9

Fresno, Calif.

8:00 AM PT

Michigan

Fresno State Lexus Classic

Alexander Sitompul posted a season-best finish.

3/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

March 9, 2010

• Notes & Quotes

Site: Fresno, Calif.
Course: San Joaquin Country Club (par 71, 6,802 yards)
Tournament: Fresno State Lexus Classic
U-M Standing: 5th Place of 16 Teams (372-349-371/1092)
Top U-M Individual: Jack Schultz, tie-14th (72-71-73/216)
Next Event: Fri-Sun., March 26-28 -- at FAU/Spring Break Championship (Boca Raton, Fla.)

FRESNO, Calif. -- The University of Michigan men's golf team, which led briefly during today's (Tuesday, March 9) final round, closed the 54-hole Fresno State Lexus Classic in fifth with a 1,092 total at the San Joaquin Country Club. In an altered event format, playing 6-count-5, the top six teams were separated throughout the day by less than three shots and the final round concluded with just 10 strokes separating first to sixth.

The Wolverines opened the event with a 372 total yesterday (Monday, March 8) as the closing three holes in the round elevated U-M's tally and put the Wolverines in 10th after 18 holes. Following a lunch break, the Maize and Blue dropped its score by 23 strokes to eventually finish with a six-under 349 score, the best round for any team at the event.

With four holes remaining in the second round, play was called due to darkness. It did not affect U-M as it finished the round today with five of the six rounds at or below par, led by junior Lion Kim (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary Prep School), who tied a career best with a four-under 67. Freshman Rahul Bakshi (Chandigarh, India/St. John's) posted a career-best, one-under 70 and junior Alexander Sitompul (Jakarta, Indonesia/Bradenton Prep Academy [Fla.]) shot a season-best, one-under 70 as U-M jumped from 10th to third with 18 holes remaining.

Freshman Jack Schultz (Whitefish Bay, Wis./Whitefish Bay) continued his strong rookie campaign, leading the Wolverines at a tournament for the first time in his career. He tallied a three-over 216 to tie for 14th and earn his third top-20 finish in seven events this season. Schultz posted consistent scores of one-over 72, even-par 71 and two-over 73 for his 216.

Sitompul collected his best finish this season, tying for 21st with a 218 total after he bookending rounds of 74 around his season-best one-under 70. Kim made it seven straight top-25 finishes, claiming 24th at 219 (77-67-75), while sophomore Matt Thompson (Battle Creek, Mich./Lakeview) tied for 25th at 220 (78-72-70). Rounding out the Wolverine scoring were sophomore Alex Frankel (Atlanta, Ga./Lovett School), who tied for 43rd at 224 (72-71-81) and Bakshi, who tied for 52nd at 226 (77-70-79).

The Wolverines will have less than three weeks to prepare for their next tournament as they will head down to Boca Raton, Fla., March 26-28, for the 2010 FAU/Spring Break Championship. The 54-hole tournament will be played at the Gleneagles Country Club. Last year, U-M was the runner-up with an 861 tally, as Kim tied for fourth (212) individually and Thompson tied for 10th (215).

Final Team Standings

 1. Brigham Young      361-362-362 = 1085 (+20)    San Diego          366-359-360 = 1085 3. Washington         363-356-368 = 1087 4. Oregon             369-358-361 = 1088 5. MICHIGAN           372-349-371 = 1092 6. Pepperdine         355-365-374 = 1094 7. UC-Irvine          366-377-364 = 1107 8. Fresno State       370-372-367 = 1109 9. California         365-377-368 = 111010. Sacramento State   371-370-375 = 1116    Cal Poly           375-372-369 = 111612. Pacific            372-373-377 = 112213. St. Mary's         377-378-372 = 112714. Nevada             377-377-374 = 112815. Kansas State       380-373-379 = 113216. San Jose State     383-377-375 = 1135

Top Individuals

 1. John Chin, UC-Irvine              75-67-66 = 208 (-5)    Robbie Fillmore, Brigham Young    74-67-67 = 208 3. Eugene Wong, Oregon               74-66-71 = 211 4. Scott Brace, San Diego            71-71-70 = 212 5. Brady Johnson, Brigham Young      70-71-72 = 213    Andrew Putnam, Pepperdine         69-69-75 = 213 7. Richard Lee, Washington           68-73-73 = 214    Kenneth McCready, San Diego       73-70-71 = 214    Jay Myers, San Jose State         71-72-71 = 214    Bhavik Patel, Fresno State        73-69-72 = 214

Michigan Individuals

T14. Jack Schultz         72-71-73 = 216T21. Alexander Sitompul   74-70-74 = 218 24. Lion Kim             77-67-75 = 219T25. Matt Thompson        78-72-70 = 220T43. Alex Frankel         72-71-81 = 224T52. Rahul Bakshi         77-70-79 = 226

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Andrew Sapp
On the Wolverines' performance at the Fresno State Lexus Classic ... "It was a tale of two teams it seemed like. We played phenomenal in the second round and did not play well in the first and final round. When you have a format where you are counting five out of six scores and you have two people go in the wrong direction it hurts your team's score. The nice thing was everyone played at least one really good round this week. We just did not come through with our consistency enough today. We needed to have another good round today to help us move up and even win this tournament. But it was good to be competitive and have a chance to win especially after that first round when we were 10th place, to move back up to third and even hold the lead for a little bit in the final round was a great positive, but we just need to finish it off. A young team can go through bumps, but we need to learn from this. This was the fifth tournament we have had a chance to win and we have only won one of them and that was the one at home. So we need to finish it off in the next couple of events leading up to Big Tens. We need to make sure we have that confidence in our ability to finish. Hopefully, the good weather in Ann Arbor will continue and we can get some things straightened out. "

On the play of Jack Schultz ... "Jack has done a nice job for us. He, obviously, has counted a lot for us this spring and he is coming out of the offseason very well. He would tell you he would like to make a few more birdies and get some under-par scores, but it is just good to see him continue to be consistent for us."

N O T E S

• Michigan played the Fresno State Lexus Classic in a 6-count-5 format. It marks the first time this season the Wolverines played in the expanded format. In the traditional count-4 format, U-M tallied an 866 (295-279-292).

• Michigan posted five of its six rounds under par in the second round. The six-under 349 team tally was the lowest for any team at the Fresno State Lexus Classic in any round.

• Lion Kim's four-under 67 in the second round tied his career-best round and marked the third time this season he has fired the personal-record round. He has now tallied the career-best round four times in his career. He set the mark last season with a four-under 67 in the final round of the 2009 FAU/Spring Break Championship. Kim now has 10 rounds under par this season, equaling his career high set last season.

• Rahul Bakski's second-round, one-under 70 was a new career best for the freshman. He topped the even-par 71 he shot in the third round of the 2009 Wolf Run Intercollegiate -- his first collegiate event.

• Alexander Sitompul's second-round, one-under 70 was a season-best round. He bettered the even-par 72 he fired in the second round of the 2009 Wolverine at Radrick Farms.

• U-M sophomore Matt Thompson, freshman Jack Schultz and freshman Rahul Bakshi have started all seven events this season.

Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423