Michigan
Royal Oaks Intercollegiate
Pilon Shares Medalist Honors, Leads U-M to Fourth at Royal Oaks Event
10/22/2019 4:39:00 PM | Men's Golf
» Michigan posted a final-round 280 (-4) to finish fourth with an 848 (-4) 54-hole total at Baylor's Royal Oaks Intercollegiate.
» Charlie Pilon claimed a four-way share for medalist honors with a career-low 205 (-8) tally. The individual title is the second of his career.
» Brent Ito's season-low 211 (-2) total helped him tie for 13th and earn his third top-15 individual finish in five fall events.
» Michigan played in a unique format with all five Wolverine starters playing together on the same hole.
Site: Dallas, Texas
Course: Royal Oaks Country Club (Par 71, 7,068 yards)
Tournament: Royal Oaks Intercollegiate
U-M Team Standing: 4th Place of 12 Teams (280-288-280/848, -4)
Top U-M Individual: Charlie Pilon, tie-1st (67-69-69/205, -8)
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., Feb. 7-8 -- at Big Ten Match Play Championship (Palm Coast, Fla.)
DALLAS, Texas -- Paced by junior Charlie Pilon's quad-medalist honor and a third top-15 fall finish from senior Brent Ito, the University of Michigan men's golf team closed its fall season Tuesday (Oct. 22) with an 848 (-4) 54-hole total to finish fourth at Baylor's Royal Oaks Intercollegiate played at Royal Oaks Country Club.
"Overall it was a solid event for the us," said U-M head coach Zach Barlow. "Our focus and attention to detail was better this week and it showed by our finish. Charlie (Pilon) played exceptionally well from start to finish. I'm glad he was able to get his second, of many to come, collegiate wins. Brent (Ito) battled this week to another top 15 finish although he didn't have his best stuff. I couldn't be more proud of Ben (Dunne) today. He struggled yesterday but bounced back today with a huge round. He seemed to be the one today that kept our momentum going when we had a few tough holes."Â
Using a season-low 67 (-4) from Pilon and a 68 from Ito, the Wolverines got off to a strong start and sat atop the leaderboard after posting a season-low 280 (-4) in the first round. Despite a second sub-70 round from Pilon (69), the Maize and Blue fell just off the pace in the second round, posting a 288 tally to put team at even par and in fourth place after 36 holes.
Pilon and Ito posted final-round 69s, and sophomore Ben Dunne added a third as he recorded his first career sub-70 tally with his 69 in his return to his home state of Texas. With those three tallies, Michigan posted a second 280 team total and stayed fourth with a season-low 848 (-4) tournament total.
Pilon entered the final round tied for the individual lead at 136 (-6). He slipped out of the lead after a bogey on his second hole, No. 3, of the last round; however, he recovered using birdies on Nos. 6 and 9 to get back in the hunt. A second bogey on No. 10 dropped him to third with eight holes left.
Getting back into a groove, he held pace with three straight pars before he approached the par-5 14th hole. Having played the previous seven par-5s at four under, Pilon bombed his drive down the middle of the eighth par 5 at Royal Oaks. His 3-iron approach from 244 yards out landed within 12 feet, setting up an eagle opportunity, and he drained the putt to vault back into the lead. He closed the round with five pars and finished in a four-way tie for his second collegiate title.
With a career-low 205 (-8) tally, Pilon tied Liberty's Jonathan Yaun (73-65-67) as well as SMU's Ollie Osborne (69-71-65) and Mac Meissner (70-67-68) for medalist honors. The win is the first for a Wolverine since Kyle Mueller won the 2018 NCAA Columbus Regional (May 14-16). Pilon's other victory came as co-medalist at the 2018 Desert Mountain Intercollegiate (March 3-4).
"The tournament was very solid," said Pilon. "I just tried to play smart golf, which limited my mistakes. It was quite different playing the event in a group with the whole team, but I think it helped me stay on task, which was good.
"The closing eagle was absolute perfection. I hit a driver into perfect position and was able to smash a 3-iron from 240 over water and bunkers to 12 feet and rolled in the putt. It feels awesome to close the fall with my second win. I am hoping to continue the good form throughout the offseason and into next semester to bring back some more hardware."
Pilon used three straight sub-70 rounds for his 205 tally, which shattered his prior best of 211 posted at the 2018 Fighting Irish Classic. In the end, he finished with 39 pars, 10 birdies, an eagle and just four bogeys while playing the par 5s at six under par.
Ito recorded his third top-15 finish of the fall season as his season-low 211 (-2) tally tied him for 13th. He produced nine of his 15 rounds at or below par during the fall, tying for the team lead with six sub-par rounds. Junior Henry Spring rounded out U-M's top three as he tied for 37th at 218 (73-72-73).
With the fall season completed, the Wolverines now will turn to their winter training program. The next time the Maize and Blue will tee it up will be in 2020 at the annual Big Ten Match Play Championship, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7-8, at the Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Florida.
"I'm looking forward to the spring season," added Barlow. "This fall was important for us to develop our chemistry and culture with a lot of changes happening this year. Coach (Matt) Hoffman and I have seen a steady improvement this fall and we expect that trend to continue into the spring."
Final Team Standings
1. SMU 282-274-269 = 825 (-27) 2. Baylor 282-280-274 = 836 3. Liberty 286-271-283 = 840 4. MICHIGAN 280-288-280 = 848 5. Charlotte 284-286-280 = 850 6. New Mexico 289-280-282 = 851 7. Kent State 295-280-283 = 858 8. North Texas 291-280-288 = 859 9. Kansas State 288-285-290 = 863 10. Iowa 295-291-282 = 868 11. UT San Antonio 301-285-288 = 874 12. Nebraska 310-292-300 = 902
Top Individuals
1. CHARLIE PILON, U-M 67-69-69 = 205 (-8)
Ollie Osborne, SMU 69-71-65 = 205
Jonathan Yaun, Liberty 73-65-67 = 205
Mac Meissner, SMU 70-67-68 = 205
5. Noah Goodwin, SMU 71-69-66 = 206
Carson Ownbey, Charlotte 71-69-66 = 206
7. Jacob Eklund, Kansas State 69-68-70 = 207
8. Gonzalo Leal, Iowa 70-69-69 = 208
Colin Kober, Baylor 68-70-70 = 208
10. Mark Reppe, Baylor 71-67-71 = 209
Ervin Chang, Liberty 68-68-73 = 209
Other Michigan Individuals
T13. Brent Ito 68-74-69 = 211 (-2) T37. Henry Spring 73-72-73 = 218 T42. Pier Francesco De Col 72-73-74 = 219 T44. Ben Dunne 73-78-69 = 220
Players Mentioned
