This Week in Michigan Men's Golf: Tar Heel Intercollegiate

» Michigan heads to Chapel Hill to play in North Carolina's Tar Heel Intercollegiate at the Finley Golf Course.
» With 14 teams in the field, there will be three from the Big Ten including U-M, Illinois and Michigan State.
» U-M will open Saturday's 36-hole day playing with Elon and Kansas State off holes 11-14.
» Nick Carlson, who leads U-M with a 73.17 scoring average, is expected to start his 42nd career event.

THIS WEEK
Sat-Sun., March 23-24 -- Tar Heel Intercollegiate (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Next on the Tee: Tar Heel Intercollegiate

Fresh off its spring break training trip, the University of Michigan men's golf team will return to tournament action Saturday and Sunday (March 23-24) at North Carolina's Tar Heel Intercollegiate in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The 14-team field will be playing the two-day, 54-hole event at Finley Golf Course, which will be set up for a par 72 and 7,242 yards. Selected teams will be allowed to bring an individual.

The Tar Heel Intercollegiate Field

There will be 14 teams competing at the 2019 Tar Heel Intercollegiate, including Elon, Gardner-Webb, Georgia Southern, Illinois, James Madison, Kansas State, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, North Carolina, North Florida, Notre Dame, UNC Greensboro and UNC Wilmington.

The Tar Heel Intercollegiate Schedule

Friday, March 22 -- Practice Round (18) tee times off No. 1 starting at 9:40 a.m.
Saturday, March 23 -- First round (18) begins with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.
Saturday, March 23 -- Second round (18) continuous play following completion of first round
Sunday, March 24 -- Final round (18) begins with tee times off No. 1 & 11 at 8:00 a.m.

The Tar Heel Intercollegiate Lineup

Heading to Chapel Hill for the Wolverines will be senior Nick Carlson, sophomores Charlie Pilon and Henry Spring as well as freshmen Patrick Sullivan and Ben Dunne. Junior Brent Ito will travel and play as U-M's individual.

Wolverine Bites

• Nick Carlson is expected to start his 42nd career event at the Tar Heel Intercollegiate. The rest of the Wolverines' expected starters combine for 37 total starts -- Charlie Pilon (16), Henry Spring (12), Ben Dunne (five) and Patrick Sullivan (four). Ito has 15 starts in his three seasons.

• Nick Carlson continues to lead the Wolverines in scoring with his 73.17 per round average. He leads U-M with six sub-par rounds including a career-low tying 67 (-4) in the final round of the Fighting Irish Classic (Oct. 8, 2018) -- the fourth time in his career. After Carlson, Brent Ito is second at 73.72, Charlie Pilon is third at 73.78 and Henry Spring is fourth at 73.80.

• Freshman Ben Dunne has turned up his play in his second semester of play, leading U-M in the last event -- the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate (T-28th; career-low). He has posted back-to-back career-low 54-hole totals of 223 in stroke play events. He also has shot a career-low 73 three times over his last six rounds, averaging 74.33 per round. During the first semester, he started two events and averaged 81.0 per round.

• After missing several months with an ankle injury, Patrick Sullivan returned to the lineup at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate. With a 225 tally, he tied for 37th. After opening with a 77 and 78, he found his rhythm posting a career-low 70 (-2) in the final round.

• As a team, U-M is averaging 293.56 per round. So far this season the Wolverines improve as each event goes out as they have averaged 298.50 in opening rounds. The Maize and Blue improve by five shots in the second round -- 293.50 -- and have closed five shots lower than the second round with a near sub-par average of 288.67.

• Using career-low final rounds by Brent Ito (64, -7), Charlie Pilon (65, -6) and Nick Carlson (67, -4) in the final round of the Fighting Irish Classic, Michigan set a new team single-round tally of 267 (-17). The score lowered the previous best tally by three shots -- 270 (-14) totaled in the final round of the 2016 Inverness Intercollegiate (Sept. 20) -- which was paced by a Carlson 67 (-4).

• Brent Ito recorded the second-lowest round in program history with his 64 (-7) in the final round of the Fighting Irish Classic (Oct. 8, 2018). Ito used seven birdies and 11 pars to record his career-best round and lower it by three shots. It is the fifth time a 64 has been recorded by a Wolverine golfer and Ito was a single shot away from the U-M record 63 (-7) from former All-American Kyle Mueller (2015-18).

U-M Record Rounds
63 (-7), second, Kyle Mueller 2017 Jerry Pate Intercollegiate (Oct. 9-10)
64 (-7), third, Brent Ito 2018 Fighting Irish Classic (Oct. 7-8)
64 (-7), second, Kyle Mueller 2015 Alister MacKenzie Invite (Oct. 12-13)
64 (-8), second, Bill Rankin 2008 Bridgestone Intercollegiate (Oct. 27-28)
64 (-7), second, Christian Vozza 2005 Alister MacKenzie Invite (Oct. 10-11)
64 (-7), second, Michael Harris 1998 Northern Intercollegiate (Sept. 18-19)

• With his final-round 64 (-7) at the Fighting Irish Classic, Brent Ito went on to record a career-best 207 (-6) 54-hole tournament total as well as his first career top-20 finish -- tying for 15th. In addition to Ito's career lows at the Warren Golf Course, Nick Carlson tied his career low with a 67 (-4) in the final round, as did Charlie Pilon, who posted a career-low 65 (-6) in the final round. Pilon's tally also led to a career-low 211 (-2) 54-hole tournament total.

• After spending his first three years on U-M's Club Team, fifth-year senior Ian Martin went undefeated at the Big Ten Match Play with a 3-0-1 record in his first varsity event. In his first stroke play event, Martin got off to a slow start, but rallied in the final round shooting a career-best 69 (-1) -- the Wolverines ninth sub-70 round of the season. He has started two of his three events and averaged 76.17 per round.

Up Next

Sat-Sun., April 6-7 -- The Aggie Invitational (Bryan, Texas)