Michigan Finishes 14th at Big Ten Match Play Championships

Saturday, February 10

Palm Coast, Fla.

8:00 AM

Michigan

Maryland

Kyle Mueller

Michigan Finishes 14th at Big Ten Match Play Championships

2/10/2018 7:58:00 PM | Men's Golf

By: Tom Wywrot

» Coming down to the final two holes, Michigan was unable to convert losing 3.5-2.5 to Nebraska in its final match of the Big Ten Match Play Championships.
» Following a morning fog delay, U-M's morning match was reduced to nine holes; the Wolverines fell to Maryland, 4-2.
» Sophomore Brent Ito led U-M with a 2-1-1 record over the weekend, while Kyle Mueller went 1-2-1.
» Freshmen Henry Spring and Charlie Pilon picked up their first collegiate match play wins, posting U-M's only victories in the finale against the Cornhuskers.
» U-M begins prep work for nearly two weeks before heading to Pepperdine's Southwestern Jones Invitational, Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 26-27 at the North Ranch Country Club.

Site: Palm Coast, Fla.
Course: Hammock Beach Resort -- Conservatory Course (par 72, 7,183 yards)
Tournament: Big Ten Match Play
U-M Team Standing: U-M (0-4)
Match 3: Maryland 4, Michigan 2
Match 4: Nebraska 3.5, Michigan 2.5
Next U-M Event: Mon-Tue., Feb. 26-27 -- Southwestern Jones Invitational (Westlake Village, Calif.)

PALM COAST, Fla. -- The University of Michigan men's golf team fell to Maryland (L, 4-2) and Nebraska (L, 3.5-2.5) in its second day matches Saturday (Feb. 10) to finish 14th overall at the Big Ten Match Play Championships held on the Conservatory and Ocean Courses at the Hammock Beach Resort.

"We had a lot of close matches that just did not fall our way, but I did see good things that have me encouraged," said U-M head coach Chris Whitten. "We have more opportunities to train before our next competition, and I think the things to clean up will be obvious for a lot of the guys. Some of the guys had solid individual weeks and I know they're really looking forward to getting the stroke play portion of the season going."

Sophomore Brent Ito paced play for the Wolverines. He won both of his matches Friday (Feb. 9) against Ohio State's Will Voetsch (4-and-2) and Purdue's Cole Bradley (1-up) to take a 1-up. Today he opened his matches halving with Maryland's Evan Santa before dropping his first match of the weekend to Nebraska's Tanner Owen, 6-and-4.

After going 0-2 during yesterday's opening day of play, senior Kyle Mueller had a decisive 4-and-2 victory in his morning match with Maryland's Peter Knade. He looked to make it two straight as he held a 4-up lead in his finale against Nebraska's Jace Guthmiller, but the Cornhusker rallied and won four of the final five holes to square the match.

Junior Nick Carlson picked up his lone win yesterday against Purdue's Timmy Hildebrand (2-up), but all three of his remaining matches came down to the final holes as he dropped two 1-up and one 2-up decisions in the spring opener.

Freshmen Henry Spring and Charlie Pilon each picked up dominating wins in the finale against Nebraska to record their first collegiate match-play victories. Spring defeated Cameron Jones, 6-and-4, while Pilon sank Sean Song, 4-and-3.

Michigan will return to Ann Arbor to prep for the spring's first tournament event at Pepperdine's Southwestern Jones Invitational, Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 26-27, at the North Ranch Country Club is Westlake Village, California. Last year, Mueller's tie for eighth individually led the Wolverines to a sixth-place finish with an 879 tally.

Big Ten Match Play
Championship: Michigan State halved with Purdue, 3-3 (tie for team title)
Third Place: Wisconsin defeated Penn State, 4-2
Fifth Place: Indiana defeated Illinois, 3.5.-2.5
Seventh Place: Ohio State defeated Minnesota, 6-0
Ninth Place: Iowa defeated Maryland, 4-1
11th Place: Northwestern defeated Rutgers, 5.5-0.5
13th Place: Nebraska defeated Michigan, 3.5-2.5

Maryland defeats U-M, 4-2
Match Note: reduced to 9 holes, following fog delay
Kyle Mueller (U-M) defeated Peter Knade (MD), 4-and-2
David Kocher (MD) defeated Nick Carlson (U-M), 3-and-1
Ian Kim (U-M) halved with Tim Colanta (MD), halved
Brent Ito (U-M) halved with Evan Santa (MD), halved
Chris Navarro (MD) defeated Henry Spring (U-M), 3-and-2
Bennett Buch (MD) defeated Charlie Pilon (U-M), 1-up

Nebraska defeats Michigan, 3.5-2.5
Kyle Mueller (U-M) halved with Jace Guthmiller (NEB), halved
Jackson Wendling (NEB) defeated Nick Carlson (U-M), 1-up
Tanner Owen (NEB) defeated Brent Ito (U-M), 5-and-4
Henry Spring (U-M) defeated Cameron Jones (NEB), 6-and-4
Dylan McCabe (NEB) defeated Connor Prassas (U-M), 1-up
Charlie Pilon (U-M) defeated Sean Song (NEB), 4-and-3