This Week in Michigan Men's Golf: Gopher Invitational
9/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
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THIS WEEK
Sun-Mon., Sept. 13-14 -- at Gopher Invitational (Independence, Minn.)
Live Scoring | Windsong Farm Golf Club
Next on the Tee: Gopher Invitational
Let's tee it up! The University of Michigan men's golf team opens the 2015-16 season heading to Independence, Minnesota, Sunday and Monday (Sept. 13-14) for Minnesota's Gopher Invitational. The 15-team field will play 54-holes over the two-day event held at Windsong Farm Golf Club. The field will open with 36 holes on Sunday and a final 18 on Monday. The course will be set up for a par 71 and 7,152 yards.
The Gopher Invitational Field
There will be 15 teams in the field at the Gopher Invitational including: Baylor, Cal, Charlotte, East Tennessee State, Iowa, Iowa State, Kent State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pepperdine, SMU and St. John's (Minn.).
The Gopher Invitational Schedule
Friday, Sept. 11 -- Travel Day
Saturday, Sept. 12 -- Practice Round (18), 11:20 a.m. CDT
Sunday, Sept. 13 -- First Round (18), 6:30 a.m. CDT (tee times off No. 1 & 10)
Sunday, Sept. 13 -- Second Round (18), 11:15 a.m. CDT (tee times off No. 1 & 10)
Monday, Sept. 14 -- Final Round (18), 6:30 a.m. CDT (tee times off No. 1 & 10)
The First Day Pairings
Michigan will be paired with SMU and St. John's (Minn.) during the first 36 holes of the Gopher Invitational. The Wolverines will begin play off No. 10 at 6:30 a.m. CDT.
The Gopher Invitational Lineup
Returning to Ann Arbor over Labor Day weekend, Michigan will use the first week to have three qualifiers to determine the five-man lineup. With qualifiers leading up to Friday's travel day the entire eight-man roster has an opportunity to play with seniors Chris O'Neill, Brett McIntosh and Andrew Yeager, juniors Bryce Evon, Reed Hrynewich, Tom Swanson, sophomore Kyle Mueller and freshman Nick Carlson all vying for a spot in the opener.
The Gopher Invitational History
Michigan is making its first appearance at the Gopher Invitational.
WOLVERINE BITES
• With five fall events and five spring, Michigan will play a balanced 10-event regular-season schedule before heading into the postseason. The Wolverines highlight the fall with a trip back to the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, Sept. 21-21, site of U-M's run in the 2009 NCAA Finals. They close the fall with a trip to Dallas, Texas, Oct. 26-27, for the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate. Once again the spring opens with the Big Ten Match Play (Feb. 12-13) as well as the Maize and Blue hosting the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate over spring break (March 5-6). The regular season closes at Ohio State's Scarlet Course for Robert Kepler Intercollegiate (April 9-10). Playing at a neutral site for the fifth straight year, the Wolverines play the Big Ten Championships at Victoria National in Newburgh, Indiana, prior to the NCAA postseason. [ Schedule ]
• The Wolverines welcome one newcomer -- Nick Carlson from Hamilton, Michigan. A four-time Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Associations (MIGCA) Super Team selection, he will look to make an immediate impact on the lineup. Carlson highlighted his prep career by winning the Division II individual title twice (2012, '15) and finished as the runner-up the other two years (2013, '14).
A LOOK AT LAST YEAR
• Chris O'Neill was named U-M's 12th Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar by the GCAA for his work in the classroom. Andrew Yeager earned U-M's third Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honor and garnered Academic All-Big Ten along with teammates O'Neill, Bryce Evon, Noori Hyun and Tom Swanson. Seven of U-M's eight-man roster were named as U-M's Athletic Academic Achievement recipients. For their entire season, the Wolverines were one of 90 Division I men's golf program recognized by the by the Golf Coaches Association of American (GCAA) for their work away from the course.
• Michigan posted five top-five finishes in its 11 events during the regular season, including winning the Wolverine Intercollegiate (Sept. 6-7) and collecting runner-up finishes at the Big Ten Match Play Championship (Feb. 14-15) and the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate (March 6-7). The Wolverines finished 11th at the Big Ten Championships (April 24-26) and seventh at the NCAA Washington Regional (May 15-17).
• U-M nearly won its second straight Big Ten Match Play Championships, losing a heartbreaker to Illinois, 3-2, in the title match. Overall, Kyle Mueller paced the Wolverines with a 4-0 record, while Brett McIntosh had a 1-0-1 mark. Chris O'Neill and Andrew Yeager each went 2-1, while Tom Swanson was 2-2, and Reed Hrynewich closed 1-2-1. U-M defeated Wisconsin (2-1-2), Ohio State (3-2) and Iowa (4-1) to advance to the final for the second straight year.
• As a team, Michigan averaged 74.34 per round individually. Kyle Mueller led U-M with a 72.86 per-round average, while Chris O'Neill was just behind at 73.15, which is just above his career best -- 73.03 (2013-14). Reed Hrynewich was third on the team, lowering his scoring average by one-and-a-half strokes to a career-best 74.39.
• Kyle Mueller was the 26th Wolverine to be named to the All-Big Ten team, earning second team honors. In his first season, he paced the Maize and Blue in nine of 13 events, including a win in his first collegiate start -- the Wolverine Intercollegiate (Sept. 6-7). He led U-M with 11 sub-par rounds, including a career-best six-under 66 in the second round of the NCAA Washington Regional. His per-round scoring average of 72.86 ranked eighth best all-time at U-M and more than a half stroke better than the freshman record (73.54) set by Matt Thompson in 2008-09.
• With his start at the Big Ten Championships, Chris O'Neill increased his consecutive-event streak to 36 starts; he has yet to miss an event in three seasons. He is expected to start his 37th straight event this weekend at the Gopher Invitational. In 36 career events, he has 14 top-20 finishes, with nine among the top 10 and six in the top five -- including an individual title at the 2013 Windon Memorial Classic (Sept 22-23).
• In his second season, Reed Hrynewich was a mainstay in the lineup, starting 11 events during the 2014-15 campaign. He had a career year, lowering his single-season scoring average best by more than a stroke and half (74.39) and setting a new career-best single-round tally with a five-under 67 in the second round of the Puerto Rico Classic. He ranked third on the Wolverines with a 222.44 54-hole tournament average.
LAST TIME OUT
After nearly winning the NCAA Washington Regional, medalist runner-up Kyle Mueller earned an individual invitation to the NCAA Championships at the Concession Golf Course in Bradenton, Florida. After posting rounds of 74, 80 and 75, he closed tied for 94th in his first NCAA postseason capping off his stellar freshman campaign. [ Recaps: Regional | Finals ]
UP NEXT
Mon-Tue., Sept. 21-22 -- at Inverness Intercollegiate (Toledo, Ohio)
Sun-Mon., Sept. 27-28 -- at Windon Memorial Classic (Glencoe, Ill.)
Communications Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
