Michigan Improves Each Round in First Spring Tourney

Sunday, February 23

San Juan, P.R.

Michigan

Puerto Rico Classic

2/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The University of Michigan men's golf team opened its spring season at the prestigious Puerto Rico Classic at the Westin Rio Mar Beach River Course on Sunday through Tuesday (Feb. 23-25) and improved each day with rounds of 328, 319 and 313 for a team total of 960 and 18th-place finish.

McIntosh was the only U-M player with two rounds in the 70s, shooting 75 on day two and 77 in the final round.

Junior Dave Nichols (Mesa, Ariz./Rochester Adams HS, Mich.) led the Wolverines for the second straight tournament as he tied for 70th. Nichols had back-to-back rounds of 80 before he got on track with a three-over-par 75 in the final round to finish with a 235 54-hole total. Redshirt freshman Mark McIntosh (Gaylord, Mich./Gaylord HS) battled back from a devastating opening round of 87, coming back to finish 77th after carding a three-over 75 in the second round and five-over 77 in the final round for a 239 total.

Redshirt freshman Jimmy Wisinski (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Northern HS) came out the gates swinging, leading the Wolverines in the first round with a 79, but he followed with rounds of 84 and 81 to give him a 244 tournament total and a tie for 84th. Freshman Brandon Duff (Goodrich, Mich./Powers Catholic HS) made the Michigan lineup for the first time in his career and improved each day, finishing 88th after rounds of 84, 83 and 80 for a 247-tournament total, and junior/sophomore Rob Tighe (Traverse City, Mich./West HS) was just behind Duff as he finished 89th with a 248 total (85-81-82).

Oklahoma State (291-289-282/862) came roaring back on the final day to take the Puerto Rico Classic title as the Cowboys fired a six-under 282 to win by 10 strokes. Minnesota (291-286-295/872), Clemson (293-293-286/872) and Texas (296-291-285/872) all finished in the runner-up spot. Florida (300-291-283/874) and the first- and second-round leader N.C. State (288-286-301/875) dropped to sixth.

N.C. State's Justin Walters (70-70-71) and Texas' Jason Hartwick (75-69-67) tied for medalist honors, each finishing with a five-under 211 tournament total. Five players tied for the third position.

Michigan will head to Myrtle Beach, S.C., for its next spring tournament when the Wolverines will play in the Coastal Carolina Invitational on Monday and Tuesday (March 10-11) at the TPC of Myrtle Beach.

Team Standings

 1. Oklahoma State 291-289-282 = 862 (-2) 2. Minnesota 291-286-295 = 872 Clemson 293-293-286 = 872 Texas 296-291-285 = 872 5. Florida 300-291-283 = 874 6. N.C. State 288-286-301 = 875 7. Georgia Tech 301-289-292 = 882 8. Oklahoma 316-288-291 = 895 9. East Tennessee State 300-301-295 = 896 Northwestern 300-297-299 = 896 11. Georgia 305-293-299 = 897 12. Duke 304-301-299 = 904 13. Colorado 310-297-300 = 907 14. Kent State 311-303-295 = 909 15. Purdue 316-299-299 = 914 16. Illinois 316-306-306 = 928 17. Virginia 325-313-311 = 949 18. MICHIGAN 328-319-313 = 960

Top Individuals

 1. Justin Walters, N.C. State 70-70-71 = 211 (-5) Jason Hartwick, Texas 75-69-67 = 211 3. Hunter Mahan, Oklahoma State 71-76-67 = 214 Troy Matteson, Georgia Tech 73-71-70 = 214 Gregg Jones, Clemson 74-69-71 = 214 Fernando Mechereffe, N.C. State 69-69-76 = 214 Zack Robinson, Oklahoma State 72-70-72 = 214 8. Chris Clarke, Oklahoma State 74-72-70 = 216 9. James Vargas, Florida 74-74-69 = 217 Jim Renner, Oklahoma 79-67-71 = 217 D.J. Trahan, Clemson 69-76-72 = 217 Simon Nash, Minnesota 70-73-74 = 217

Michigan Individual Scores

T70. David Nichols 80-80-75 = 235 77. Mark McIntosh 87-75-77 = 239 T84. Jimmy Wisinski 79-84-81 = 244 88. Brandon Duff 84-83-80 = 248 89. Rob Tighe 85-81-82 = 248

N O T E S

Junior David Nichols was the top finishing Wolverine for the second straight tournament. It marks the third career tournament he has led the Maize and Blue.

Freshman Brandon Duff was in Michigan's lineup for the first time, making him the sixth different Wolverine to play in his first college tournament this season. He finished 88th.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Andrew Sapp
On the tournament ... "It's good to get the first tournament under our belts. We didn't do exactly what we came down here to do, but we need to work on some things and improve dramatically from now until the rest of the season. It was good to see both Dave (Nichols) and Mark (McIntosh) get at least one decent round in at the tournament. We were a little rough throughout the tournament playingwise; hopefully this will at least help us get prepared for the rest of the season. We had some really good practice sessions down here, and getting out here to play will help us. With the wind the way it was and the greens being very slow it was hard for our guys to get adjusted. That's not an excuse, it is just something we need to be able to do. Now with this tournament under our belts we are looking forward to going to Myrtle Beach and seeing how much we can improve."

On playing the nation's top teams ... "It's always a valuable experience to play with top teams in the country. But we shouldn't have that many excuses, we should be able to compete with these teams. Minnesota has the same conditions that we have all winter and for them to come down and play so well shows that they were just a little more prepared than us. This tournament gives us a barometer of what it is like to play with the top teams and where we need to go forward ... and we need to go forward a lot more if we are ever going to get to the next level and compete with these top 25 programs."

Junior David Nichols
On his tournament ... "I worked real hard over the winter working on my drive and my irons and I would say that I was probably striking the ball the best I have in a really long time. It was just my putting. The first two days my putter was just awful. I probably three- or four-putted three or four times each round. But in the final round everything just seemed to click. I felt that I just improved every day. Even though my scores really don't reflect it, I think I am on my way to having a really good spring season."

On the team's mindset ... "Nobody played anyway really near the way that they expected. Still everyone did show some improvement each round, even if the scores didn't really show that. I know everyone played better. If you could have seen us on the range, we fit in there with the caliber of team's we were facing, but we have to take the range to the course. If we could have had about four or five more days to prepare I am confident that we could have finished in the middle of the pack."

On the team goes from here ... "Myrtle Beach is an important tournament for us. We really want to focus down there so we can really go after the El Diablo, where a lot of our district teams will be. We need to just keep practicing and we know that we really have to work on our putting. We want to use Myrtle Beach as a stepping stone for the rest of the year."

Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423