Weekly Release #12
5/2/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Upcoming Schedule
Fri-Sun., May 4-6 -- at Big Ten Conference Championships (Urbana, Ill.)
Thu-Sat., May 17-19 -- at NCAA Central Regional (Stillwater, Okla.)
Next on the Tee
The University of Michigan men's golf team will swing into the championship portion of its schedule as the Wolverines head to Urbana, Ill., for the 2001 Big Ten Conference Championships, Friday through Sunday (May 4-6). This year's championship will be hosted by Illinois at Stone Creek Golf Club. The championships will have the course set up for a par 72 and yardage of 7,118. The 72-hole tournament will consist of 18 holes Friday (May 4, 12:30 p.m. CDT), 36 on Saturday (May 5, 7:30 a.m.) and a final 18-hole round on Sunday (May 6, 7:30 a.m.).
Internet Coverage
Big Ten Conference Site
Illinois Men's Golf Site
Stone Creek Golf Club
Opened in 1999, the Stone Creek Golf Club has hosted just one tournament in its brief history -- the 2000 Northern Intercollegiate (Sept. 30-Oct. 1). The 2001 Big Ten Conference Championships will be the second tournament held at the Urbana course. Michigan's Andy Matthews (Ada, Mich./Forest Hills Central HS) holds the men's course record with a 68 fired in the second round of the Northern Intercollegiate.
Championship Scoring
Team scores shall be determined by adding the low four scores of each team for each round. A team shall consist of no more than five players per institution. Ties in a team or individual competition after 72 holes at the championship shall stand.
Championship Teams
All 11 Big Ten Conference teams will participate in the championship. The seeding for the championship was determined by each team's final finish from the 2000 Big Ten Conference Championship. First-round pairings will be played in 28 twosomes starting with the No. 5 player going to the No. 1 player in eight-minute intervals. Pairings for the second and final days shall follow the same 28-twosome pattern, but with new team seedings according to team totals to date from the championship.
First-Round Tee Assignments
Group 1 -- 12:30 to 1:02 p.m. -- 1st tee
No. 5 Minnesota and No. 6 Wisconsin
Group 2 -- 1:10 to 1:42 p.m. -- 1st tee
No. 3 Penn State and No. 4 Ohio State
Group 3 -- 1:50 to 2:22 p.m. -- 1st tee
No. 1 Northwestern and No. 2 Purdue
Group 4 -- 12:38 to 1:34 p.m. -- 10th tee
No. 9 Indiana, No. 10 Iowa, No. 11 Illinois
Group 5 -- 1:42 to 2:14 p.m. -- 10th tee
No. 7 Michigan and No. 8 Michigan State
The Michigan Lineup
The Wolverines will carry five players for the Michigan squad at 2001 Big Ten Conference Championships. Junior Andy Matthews, junior Andrew Chapman (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc HS) and redshirt freshman Chris Kellogg (Traverse City, Mich./Central HS) have each secured a position. Freshman David Nichols (Rochester, Mich./Adams HS), fifth-year senior Scott Hayes (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester HS), redshirt freshman Scott Carlton (Brighton, Mich./Brighton HS), and redshirt junior Kyle Kilcherman (Traverse City, Mich./Central HS) and are all battling for the final two spots during the week's qualifier.
Last Year at Big Tens ... Wolverines Finish Seventh
Michigan closed out the 2000 Big Ten Conference Championship (May 5-7, 2000) with a seventh-place overall finish. The Wolverines carded rounds of 292-299-311-311 at Purdue University's Kampen Course to finish with a 1,213 championship total. Michael Harris (1997-2000) paced the Maize and Blue as he finished fifth after shooting rounds of 70-73-75-75 for a 293 championship total. For his efforts, Harris was named to the All-Big Ten Championship Team as well as being selected to the All-Big Ten Conference first team. Scott Hayes tied for 23rd (67-75-82-81/305), Mike Affeldt (1998-2000) tied for 26th (78-76-78-74/306), Andrew Chapman tied for 42nd (79-75-78-81/313) and Andy Matthews finished 47th (77-76-80-82/315).
U-M Finishes 10th at Fossum to Close Regular Season
The Wolverines used their best team total of the tournament (292) to move up one position and finish 10th at the Bruce Fossum/TeamGearOnline.com Invitational (April 28-29) at Forest Akers West Course in East Lansing, Mich. The Wolverines tallied team totals of 294 and 298 on the first day for an 884 total. Redshirt freshman Chris Kellogg competed in just his second tournament of the year and led the Wolverines the entire invitational. Kellogg tied for 22nd after carding rounds of 73, 73 and 74 for a seven-over-par total of 220. The finish, the two rounds of 73 and the 220 total were all career bests for Kellogg. Andy Matthews used a career-best-tying 68 in the final round to vault him 33 positions as he tied for 33rd. He fired back-to-back rounds of 77 on the first day and finished with a 222 total. Andrew Chapman also tied for 33rd after carding rounds of 72-77-73 for his 222 total. David Nichols tied for 46th (74-72-79/225) and Scott Hayes tied for 59th (75-76-77/228).
Kellogg Makes Impressive Debut
Chris Kellogg made the most of what can be called his first true tournament of the year as he led the Wolverines at the Bruce Fossum/TeamGearOnline.com Invitational (April 28-29). Prior to the Fossum, he competed in the Wolverine South (March 3-4), but as an individual. Kellogg's tie for 22nd, round score of 73 in the first and second rounds and 220 total in East Lansing were career best marks. His previous best was a round score of 81 in the second round at the Wolverine South and a 69th-place finish at the South. He had not competed in a three-round tournament prior to the Fossum.
Matthews Hits Career Mark
Andy Matthews carded a career-best-tying 68 in the final round of the Bruce Fossum/TeamGearOnline.com Invitational. The last time he fired a 68 was in the second round of the Northern Intercollegiate (Sept. 30-Oct. 1), which set the one-round record at the Stone Creek Golf Course. Prior to twice hitting the mark this season, Matthews shot 68 in the second round of the Xavier Invitational (Oct. 11-12, 1999) and in his very first collegiate round ever, at the Northern Intercollegiate (Sept. 18-19, 1998). Matthews has not missed a tournament his entire career at Michigan, playing in 36 straight. He is also second on the team with a 74.40 scoring average.
District IV Race Heating Up in Final Weekend
The District IV race continues to heat up with the last regular-season tournament upcoming. The Wolverines are in the seventh spot and need to move up into the top six in order to get a bid to the NCAA Central Regional. Just ahead of the Wolverines is No. 6 Purdue. The Wolverines have a 1-3 overall record against the Boilermakers.
The breakdown for the NCAA Regional bids are: District 1 receives three bids, District 2 gets four, District 3 (North) gets eight, District 3 (South) also gets eight, District 5 gets seven, District 6 gets eight, District 7 gets six and District 8 gets 12.
In the District IV Hunt (as of April 22)
| Rank, Team | U-M record vs. |
| 1. Northwestern | 0-2-0 |
| 2. Minnesota | 0-3-0 |
| 3. Toledo | 2-4-0 |
| 4. Ohio State | 2-3-0 |
| 5. Kent State | 1-1-0 |
| 6. Purdue | 1-3-0 |
| 7. Michigan | |
| 8. Miami (Ohio) | 3-4-0 |
The Rankings
Michigan is ranked 71st in the country according to the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings (April 30) to help give the Big Ten eight teams in the top 100. No. 29 Northwestern is the highest ranked Big Ten program, with Minnesota just behind at No. 30. Other top 100 Big Ten teams include: No. 57 Ohio State, No. 63 Purdue, No. 67 Penn State, No. 81 Michigan State and No. 93 Wisconsin. Other ranked conference teams are No. 116 Iowa, No. 125 Illinois and No. 128 Indiana. There are 280 Division I golf programs that are ranked.
More Rankings
Scott Hayes led the Wolverines all fall and is currently ranked 275th in the nation according to the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings (April 30) with a 73.41 rating. Hayes is the highest ranked Wolverine of the 2,270 golfers nationally. Andy Matthews is the next closest to Hayes at No. 309 (73.61) and Andrew Chapman is at No. 374 (73.96). Georgia Tech's Bryce Molder in the No. 1 golfer in the country with a 67.40 rating.
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
