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This Week in Michigan Men's Golf: Big Ten Match Play Championship
2/5/2020 5:00:00 PM | Men's Golf
» After three months away from competition, U-M returns for its 12th straight trip to the Big Ten Match Play Championship at the Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Florida.
» The Championship will be held on the Jack Nicklaus Ocean Course.
» Michigan won the Big Ten Match Play in 2014 and has runner-up finishes in 2009 and 2015.
THIS WEEK
Fri-Sat., Feb. 7-8 -- Big Ten Match Play Championship (Palm Coast, Fla.)
Live Scoring | Bracket (PDF)
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Next on the Tee: Big Ten Match Play Championship
The University of Michigan men's golf team returns to competition following a three-and-a-half month hiatus as the Wolverines travel to Palm Coast, Florida, to compete in the 2020 Big Ten Match Play Championships, Friday and Saturday (Feb. 7-8). The two-day event will be held at Hammock Beach Resort with all matches played on the Jack Nicklaus Ocean Course. Each team will have six members competing per match. Big Ten Network will broadcast the 2020 Big Ten Match Play Championship on Sunday, March 1, at 10:30 a.m.
The B1G Match Play Championship Field
With 13 of 14 members of the conference competing in the Big Ten Match Play Championship, seeding for the event will be #1 Northwestern, #2 Purdue, #3 Minnesota, #4 Ohio State, #5 Michigan State, #6 Rutgers, #7 Penn State, #8 Iowa, #9 Michigan, #10 Indiana, #11 Maryland, #12 Wisconsin and #13 Nebraska. Illinois is not participating in this year's event.
U-M's B1G Match Play Schedule
• Practice Round
Thursday, Feb. 6 -- 8:40 a.m. (tee times)
• First Round
Friday, Feb. 7 -- M1 vs. #8 Iowa, 8 a.m. (Ocean Course)
• Quarterfinal (if win M1)
Friday, Feb.7 -- M7 vs. #1 Northwestern, 1 p.m. (Ocean Course)
• Semifinal (if win M1, M7)
Saturday, Feb. 8 -- M14 vs. M8 winner, 8 a.m. (Ocean Course)
• Consolation Semifinal (if win M1, lose M7)
Saturday, Feb. 8 -- M16 vs. M8 loser, 8 a.m. (Ocean Course)
• Championship (if win M1, M7 & M14)
Saturday, Feb. 8Â -- M21 vs. M15 winner, 1 p.m. (Ocean Course)
• 3rd/4th Place (if win M1, M7 & lose M14)
Saturday, Feb. 8Â -- M22 vs. M15 loser, 1 p.m. (Ocean Course)
• 5th/6th Place (if win M16)
Saturday, Feb. 8Â -- M23 vs. M17 winner, 1 p.m. (Ocean Course)
• 7th/8th Place (if lose M16)
Saturday, Feb. 8Â -- M24 vs. M17 loser, 1 p.m. (Ocean Course)
• Extra Matches (if lose M1)
Friday, Feb. 7 -- vs. #7 Penn State/#10 Indiana loser, 1 p.m. (Ocean Course)
Saturday, Feb. 8 -- vs. #5 Michigan State/#12 Wisconsin loser, 8 a.m. (Ocean Course)
Saturday, Feb. 8 -- vs. #4 Ohio State/#13 Nebraska loser, 1 p.m. (Ocean Course)
The Michigan Lineup
With six players competing in each match, Michigan will select its six positions following the practice round. Heading down to Florida will be senior Brent Ito, juniors Charlie Pilon and Henry Spring, sophomores Ben Dunne and Patrick Sullivan, and freshman Pier Francesco De Col.
U-M's History at the B1G Match Play Championship
• Michigan is 20-18 all-time at the Big Ten Match Play Championship.
• U-M won the event in 2014 and has had runner-up finishes in the inaugural event in 2009 as well as 2015.
• Below are the results of each of U-M's 11 appearances at the Big Ten Match Play event:
2009: 2-1 (runner-up)
2010: 1-2
2011: 2-1
2012: 1-1
2013: 2-2
2014: 4-0 (champions)
2015: 3-1 (runner-up)
2016: 2-2
2017: 1-2
2018: 0-4
2019: 2-2
The 2014 B1G Match Play Championship Run
Michigan won its first Big Ten Match Play Championship title at the Concession Golf Club (Feb. 14-15, 2014) in Bradenton, Florida. The Maize and Blue won all four of its weekend matchups during the two-day event and defeated seventh-seeded Purdue in a sudden-death playoff to capture the Big Ten Match Play Championship trophy. Chris O'Neill (2013-16) led Michigan with a 3-1 record, while Brett McIntosh (2013-16) posted a 2-1-1 record and Noori Hyun (2012-15) had a team-best six birdies in 16 holes. [ Recap ]
Wolverine Career Match Play Records
Charlie Pilon: 8 (4-3-1)
Brent Ito: 8 (3-3-2)
Henry Spring: 7 (1-4-2)
Ben Dunne: 4 (1-1-2)
Taisei Negishi: 1 (0-1-0)
Patrick Sullivan: 0-0-0
Pier Francesco De Col: 0-0-0
Why Big Ten Match Play?
In conjunction with the NCAA's postseason format shift to determine the team national champion via the match play format, the Big Ten was the first conference to emulate that format to open each of the last nine spring seasons. The NCAA Finals begin with 54 holes of stroke play to determine the individual champion and to narrow the field to eight teams. Those eight advance and compete in match play to determine the team national champion.
Wolverine Bites
• Senior Brent Ito led the Wolverines in three fall events with top-25 finishes. He began with his first career top-10 finish, tying for ninth at the Windon Memorial Classic (Sept. 16-17) with a 212 (-1) tally. He followed with a tie for 11th at the Inverness Intercollegiate (Sept. 23-24) with a 216 (+3) total. He then posted a 214 (+1) to tie for 23rd at the Fighting Irish Classic (Oct. 7-8). Ito's 72.13 scoring average is nearly a full stroke better than the next Wolverine.
• Ito posted nine of his 152 total fall rounds at par or under this season. He is tied for the team lead with six sub-par rounds including a season-low 68 (-3) in the first round of the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate. His 211 (-2) tally at the Royal Oak marked his third career sub-par 54-hole total. He owns the four of the top five 54-hole totals by a Wolverine this season and is averaging 216.40 per event.
• Junior Charlie Pilon led the Wolverines for the final two fall events and boosted his career total to four after he won the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate with a career-low 205 (-8) total. With three straight sub-70 rounds at the Royal Oaks, he has lowered his scoring average to 72.40 per round, which is nearly a full stroke lower than his previous season best. Additionally, Pilon is tied for the team lead with six sub-par rounds -- including a U-M low 67 (-4) in the first round at the Royal Oaks.
• A starter in all five fall events, sophomore Ben Dunne has averaged 75.13 strokes per round, including a career-low 69 (-2) in the final round of the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate. With that tally, he posed a career-low 220 in Dallas.
• Freshman Pier Francesco De Col made his collegiate debut at the Fighting Irish Classic (Oct. 7-8), recording a career-low even-par 71 in the second round. He started the final two events and closed the fall posting a career-low 219 54-hole tournament total at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate. He will make his fourth straight start at Big Ten Match Play. He is averaging 75.33 per round.
• For the third straight season junior Henry Spring has twice shot his career low of 69. First he closed the Inverness Intercollegiate with five birdies to post a 69 (-2). In the next event, he repeated the score but with seven birdies for a finishing 69 (-2) at the Fighting Irish Classic (Oct. 7-8). Spring has a 72.20 final-round average after marks of 76.00 (first round) and 75.60 (second round) to begin events. For the season, he is averaging 74.60 per round.
• Michigan played in five fall events with four Wolverines starting every event -- Ito, Pilon, Spring and Dunne. As a team, U-M averaged 292.40 per team round.
• This season, Michigan welcomes new head coach Zach Barlow, who spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach at Illinois. Over that span, Barlow helped head coach Mike Small guide Illinois to five consecutive Big Ten titles, win three NCAA regional championships, and advance to five consecutive NCAA finals and three match-play semifinals. » Release
• Barlow hired college teammate Matt Hoffman as his assistant coach. After a six-year professional career, Hoffman spent the last two years as an assistant coach with one of Canada's most prestigious golf programs at Humber College (2017-19) in Toronto. In his two seasons, the Hawks won back-to-back Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) championships and were second in the 2019 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championships after a third-place finish in 2018. » Release
Up Next
Sat-Sun., March 7-8 -- host Desert Mountain Intercollegiate (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
Players Mentioned
