Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Wolverines to Begin Postseason at Big Ten Championships in Columbus
4/24/2024 10:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's golf team starts postseason play heading to the Big Ten Championships, Friday through Sunday (April 26-28) at the Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio. The three-day, 54-hole championships will have all 14 conference squads battling for the conference crown. The course is scheduled to be set up for a par 70 with 7,240 yards.
Notes
• With all 14 conference teams represented, the Big Ten Championships will be seeded as such: No. 18 Illinois, No. 28 Purdue, No. 36 Ohio State, No. 44 Northwestern, No. 46 Indiana, No. 73 Michigan State, No. 84 Michigan, No. 88 Rutgers, No. 90 Wisconsin, No. 98 Minnesota, No. 109 Iowa, No. 115 Nebraska, No. 116 Penn State and No. 191 Maryland.
• The Wolverines will be paired with Rutgers and Wisconsin for the first round on Friday (April 26). They are expected to start on the first tee (10 a.m.) and will play in 10-minute tee times. The Wolverines and Scarlet Knights played in three events during the regular season and just one with Wisconsin. Overall, U-M was 7-7 against the Big Ten in the regular season.
• U-M will travel six Wolverines to the championships with a starting five determined following the practice round. Junior Hunter Thomson, redshirt-junior Ben Hoagland, senior Will Anderson, junior Yuqi Liu, senior Jude Kim and redshirt-junior Jack O'Donnell will all head to Columbus.
• The Big Ten Championships will be played in a 5-count-4 format. Michigan will travel six-members as subs will be allowed in the lineup throughout the 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.
• Thomson is expected to make his 35th consecutive start at the Big Ten Championships and has not missed a tournament for U-M in three straight seasons. Anderson is set to make his 39th start of his 40-event career. Additionally, Liu has started his last 20 events, while Hoagland is one of four Wolverines to start all 11 tournaments this season.
• Michigan won two team titles this season – the Island Resort Intercollegiate and the Virtues Intercollegiate -- while collecting eight top-five finishes in the 11 events. Individually, U-M has had four medalists with three runners-up during the regular season. U-M has 12 top-5 individual finishes with Thomson recording half of those (six).
• Including 11 straight to start the spring season, U-M has had 22 of its 33 team rounds below par with a season-low 273 (-15) in the second round of the Island Resort Intercollegiate. Overall, the Wolverines average 286.30 per team round. The Maize and Blue has posted six 54-hole events under par, including two sub-30 finishes -- 830 (-34) at the Virtues Intercollegiate and 834 (-30) at the Island Resort Intercollegiate.
• Thomson leads with a 70.15 scoring average -- a U-M record pace. No Wolverine has finished a season with a sub-70 scoring average. He fired 25 of his 33 rounds at-or-below par with a team-best 20 sub-par tallies. He highlighted the season with a career-low 64 (-8) in the final round of the Palmas del Mar. That 64 ties U-M's second-lowest single-round score record, and marks the second time a Wolverine has reached that mark after Hoagland fired a 64 (-8) in the second round of the Island Resort Intercollegiate (Sept. 3-4).
• With seven sub-par 54-hole totals this season, Thomson is averaging 210.45 per event, nearly six shots under par. Overall, Thomson has 16 sub-par 54-hole totals in 34 career events. Overall in his career, he is averaging near even par per event with a 216.09 average.
• Thomson set a career-low 54-hole total with his 201 (68-69-64, -15) winning total at the Palmas del Mar Collegiate. It tied U-M's second-lowest single-round total in program history, trailing only Kyle Mueller's record 198 (69-65-65, -15) at the 2015 Alister MacKenzie Invitational (Oct. 12-13). Now, Thomson has two of the top 3 best individual 54-hole totals in U-M history -- that 201 total and his 202 (71-65-66, -14) at the Island Resort Intercollegiate (Sept. 3-4).
• With 12 sub-par single-round tallies, Hoagland is averaging a career-best-pace 72.27 per round, nearly four shots better than any prior season. His average is sitting as the third lowest in a season for a Wolverine. Hoagland has posted five sub-par 54-hole totals after recording just one in his two prior seasons. He set a career-low with his 206 (-10) total in the season opener at the Island Resort Intercollegiate.
• In a career final season, Anderson is sporting a career-low 72.36 per round average. He has 10 sub-par tallies this season with a season-best 67 (-5) in the final round of the Invitational at the Ford (Feb. 26-27). He has not missed a start in two seasons -- 23 straight -- and is expected to make his fourth straight start at the Big Ten Championships.
Players Mentioned
