This Week in Michigan Men's Golf: Big Ten Championships

» Michigan will start its postseason at the Big Ten Championships, which will be held at the Philadelphia Cricket Club in Flourtown, Pennsylvania.
» The conference tournament will be held at a neutral location for the eighth straight year.
» Senior Nick Carlson is expected to start his fourth consecutive Big Ten Tournament.
» U-M is the No. 9 seed and will open the championships playing with Wisconsin and Indiana.

THIS WEEK
Fri-Sun., April 26-28 -- Big Ten Championships (Flourtown, Pa.)
Live Scoring | Big Ten Men's Golf | Big Ten Championships | Philadelphia Cricket Club

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Next on the Tee: Big Ten Championships

The University of Michigan men's golf team will shift its focus toward the Wolverines' second season as they travel to Flourtown, Pennsylvania, Friday through Sunday (April 26-28) for the 54-hole Big Ten Championships. For the eighth straight year, the conference tournament will be held at a neutral site. For the first year the conference event will be held at Philadelphia Cricket Club. The conference tournament will be played in a 5-count-4 format with the Wissahickon Course set up for a par of 70 at 7,119 yards.

The Big Ten Championships Field

All 14 conference schools will participate in the 2018 Big Ten Championships. The seeding (1-14) with GolfStat relative rankings (as of April 17) include: No. 27 Illinois, No. 43 Iowa, No. 45 Ohio State, No. 47 Northwestern, No. 58 Purdue, No. 59 Michigan State, No. 61 Penn State, No. 93 Minnesota, No. 103 Michigan, No. 108 Wisconsin, No. 109 Indiana, No. 119 Maryland, No. 136 Rutgers and No. 154 Nebraska.

The Big Ten Championships Schedule

Wednesday, April 24 -- Travel Day
Thursday, April 25 -- Practice Round (18), 8 a.m.
Thursday, April 25 -- Coaches Meeting, 6 p.m.
Thursday, April 25 -- B1G Championships Banquet, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, April 26 -- First Round (18), tee times off No. 1 and No. 10, 9 a.m.
Saturday, April 27 -- Second Round (18), tee times off No. 1 and No. 10, 9 a.m.
Sunday, April 28 -- Final Round (18), tee times off No. 1 and No. 10, 8 a.m.

The Big Ten Championships

First Round
Tee #1 (9 a.m.) -- #1 Illinois, #2 Iowa, #3, Ohio State
Tee #1 (9:45 a.m.) -- #4 Northwestern, #5 Purdue, #6 Michigan State
Tee #10 (9 a.m.) -- #7 Penn State, #8 Minnesota
Tee #10 (9:40 a.m.) -- #9 Michigan, #10 Wisconsin, #11 Indiana
Tee #10 (10:25 a.m.) -- #12 Maryland, #13 Rutgers, #14 Nebraska

Second Round
Tee #1 (9 a.m.) -- #4 Team, #5 Team, #6 Team
Tee #1 (9:45 a.m.) -- #1 Team, #2 Team, #3 Team
Tee #10 (9 a.m.) -- #7 Team, #8 Team
Tee #10 (9:40 a.m.) -- #9 Team, #10 Team, #11 Team
Tee #10 (10:25 a.m.) -- #12 Team, #13 Team, #14 Team

Final Round
Tee #1 (8 a.m.) -- #4 Team, #5 Team, #6 Team
Tee #1 (8:45 a.m.) -- #1 Team, #2 Team, #3 Team
Tee #10 (8 a.m.) -- #7 Team, #8 Team
Tee #10 (8:40 a.m.) -- #9 Team, #10 Team, #11 Team
Tee #10 (9:25 a.m.) -- #12 Team, #13 Team, #14 Team

The Big Ten Championships Lineup

Michigan will travel six Wolverines to the conference championships and make the final decision on the five starters after the practice round. Heading to Big Ten's includes senior Nick Carlson, fifth-year senior Ian Martin, sophomores Charlie Pilon and Henry Spring and freshmen Ben Dunne and Patrick Sullivan.

Big Ten Championships Experience
• Nick Carlson -- fourth: 2016 (35th; 224), 2017 (t-16th; 214), 2018 (t-56th; 226)
• Charlie Pilon -- second: 2018 (t-10th; 214)
• Henry Spring -- second: 2018 (t-31st; 220)
• Patrick Sullivan -- first
• Ben Dunne -- first
• Ian Martin -- first

Last Year at the Big Ten Championships

• Using top-25 finishes from Henry Spring (t-10th; 214) and Brent Ito (t-22nd; 217), Michigan finished sixth at the Big Ten Championships with an 865 54-hole total which was played at the Baltimore Country Club. [ Recap ]

Michigan at the Big Ten Championships

Michigan has won 12 Big Ten championships throughout the history of the program with the last coming in the 1952 season. Individually, U-M has had 15 players win medalist honors at the conference event with the last in 1999 by Michael Harris.

Wolverine Bites

• Michigan coach Chris Whitten announced he will be stepping away from his head coach duties at the conclusion of the 2018-19 season and will leave the university to become the executive director of the Golf Association of Michigan starting in May. An immediate search for his replacement will begin at the conclusion of the season. U-M Release | GAM Release

• Nick Carlson is expected to start his 44th career event at the Big Ten Championships. The rest of the Wolverines expected starters combine for 47 total starts -- Charlie Pilon (18), Henry Spring (14), Ben Dunne (seven), Patrick Sullivan (six) and Ian Martin (two). Brent Ito was expected to play at the conference tournament, however, a season-ending ankle injury will prevent him from competing.

• Nick Carlson continues to lead the Wolverines in scoring with his 73.17 per-round average. He leads U-M with eight sub-par rounds including a career-low-tying 67 (-4) in the final round of the Fighting Irish Classic (Oct. 8) -- the fourth time in his career. After Carlson, Henry Spring is second at 73.65, while Charlie Pilon is third at 73.78 followed by Brent Ito's 74.10.

• Freshman Ben Dunne has turned up his play in his second semester of play, leading U-M in the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate (t-28th; career-low) on March 9-10. He posted back-to-back career-low 54-hole totals of 223 at the Gator Invitational (Feb. 16-17) and the Desert Mountain. He carded a career-low 72 in the first round of the rain-shortened Boilermaker Invitational. He has fired rounds of 72 or lower in five of his last 11 rounds, averaging 74.91 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. In the regular-season finale at the Boilermaker Invitational (April 13-14), Sullivan appears to be back posting back-to-back 71s (-1) to tie for 18th. He is averaging 75.35 strokes per round in his first season, starting all six events in which he has participated.

• U-M is averaging 293.74 per round as a team. So far this season the Wolverines have improved as each event goes on as they have averaged 297.75 in opening rounds. The Maize and Blue improves by four shots in the second round (294.63) and have closed six shots lower than the second round with a near even-par average of 288.14.

• Using the 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 record 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). 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 was a single shot off 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)

• 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 (Feb. 8-9) with a 3-0-1 record in his first varsity event. In his first stroke play event, He 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 four events and averaged 75 per round.

Inside the Maize and Blue

• Michigan made its fifth straight NCAA regional appearance in 2017-18 as Kyle Mueller won the Columbus Regional and made his second career NCAA Finals appearance. During the five-year stretch, U-M has three team appearances (2017 - Washington, 2016 - Vanderbilt and 2015 - Washington) and two individual (2018 - Mueller and 2014 - Chris O'Neill).

• U-M has 41 NCAA postseason appearances with 13 regional stops since the format changed to regional play in 1989. The Wolverines have participated as a team in six Central Regionals (1995, 1997, 2000, 2008, 2010, 2011), two Washington Regionals (2015, 2017), the Southwest Regional (2009) and the Franklin Regional (2016). The Wolverines add three regional invitations in 2012 (Matt Thompson), 2014 (Chris O'Neill) and 2018 (Kyle Mueller). U-M has made 23 NCAA team final appearances, winning back-to-back national titles in 1934 and 1935. The Wolverines also have had 11 individuals advance to the NCAA Finals, with the last by Mueller in 2018.

Michigan NCAA Regional History

• 1995: Central - 12th (890)
• 1997: Central - 8th (874)
• 2000: Central - t-11th (866)
• 2008: Central - t-12th (904)
• 2009: Southwest - 5th (888) - advanced to NCAA Finals
     • 2009: NCAA Finals - advanced to NCAA Match Play
     • 2009: NCAA Championship - Match Play Semifinalist • 2010: Central - t-6th (848)
• 2011: Central - 1st (841) - advanced to NCAA Finals
     • 2011: NCAA Finals - t-10th (892)
• 2012: Central: NTS - Matt Thompson played as individual
• 2014: Central: NTS - Chris O'Neill played as individual
• 2015: Washington - 7th (863) - Kyle Mueller advanced to NCAA Finals
     • 2015: NCAA Finals - NTS - Mueller played as individual, tying for 94th
• 2016: Franklin - 10th (872)
• 2017: Washington - 10th (886)
• 2018: Columbus - NTS - Mueller played as individual, medalist advance to NCAA Finals
     • 2018: NCAA Finals - NTS - Mueller played as individual, tying for 117th