Michigan
Big Ten Championships (Day 3)
Wolverines Move Up Spot, Close 10th at Big Ten Tourney
4/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Site: Lake Forest, Ill.
Course: Conway Farms Golf Club (par 71, 7,168 yards)
Tournament: Big Ten Championships
U-M Finish: 10th Place of 11 Teams (308-305-297-318/1228)
Top U-M Individual: Matt McLaughlin (80-73-74-80) and Brian Ottenweller (78-77-72-80), tie-35th (307)
Next U-M Event: Season Completed
LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The University of Michigan men's golf team battled rain, high winds and cold conditions throughout the final round and posted a 318 final round today (Sunday, April 30) helping the Wolverines to move up one position to finish 10th with a 1,228 72-hoel total at the 2006 Big Ten Conference Championships at the Conway Farms Golf Club.
The Maize and Blue opened Friday's first round posting a 308 tally and followed with a 305 putting them 11th after the first day of competition. Despite tallying a U-M tournament best 297 team total in the third round, the Wolverines still found themselves in the 11th spot after Saturday's play. With rains, high winds and cold temperatures hampering the final round, Michigan grinded out a 318 total, as Iowa posted a 325, to help the Wolverines moved up one spot and finish 10th at the conference championships for the second straight season.
Junior Matt McLaughlin (Raleigh, N.C./Millbrook HS) and sophomore Brian Ottenweller (Grand Rapids, Mich./Catholic Central HS) led the way for the Wolverines all weekend long as they both tied for 35th with 307 72-hole championship totals.
After opening up with an 80 in the first round, McLaughlin rebounded posting a two-over 73 in the second round. He followed with a three-over 74 in the third to put him tied for 38th along with Ottenweller, who opened with rounds of 78 and 77 on the first day and a Wolverine tournament low one-over 72 in the third round. With the weather conditions worsening, both McLaughlin and Ottenweller tallied rounds of 80 on the final day to move them up three positions to the 35th spot.
Senior Christian Vozza (Traverse City, Mich./Grand Rapids Baptist HS) used his experiences to help him close the 2006 championships with a tie for 39th after a 308 championship total. After opening with an 81, he carded back-to-back rounds of 75 to move him up the leaderboard. In the final round, he was able to score a team-best 77 in the rainy conditions to help him to the 308 total.
Senior Brandon Duff (Goodrich, Mich./Powers Catholic HS) opened with a two-over 73, but fell back in the second round posting an 80. He came back in the third round with a 76, but playing conditions hurt his final round as he posted an 84 giving him a 313 72-hole total and a tie for 48th individual finish. Sophomore Tim Schaetzel (Atlanta, Ga./Pace Academy) closed out the Wolverine scoring as he was 55th with a 322 total. After opening with a 77, he tallied back-to-back rounds of 82 and closed out with an 81.
Overall, first day leader Northwestern used a 301 final round total to move from third to the Big Ten Championship title with an 1,160 72-hole total. The Wildcats (282-286-291-301) trailed by three strokes after the third round, but won by nine strokes over Minnesota (288-294-280-307), who finished at 1,169. Purdue (284-286-294-306) was third at 1,170.
In addition to the team title, Northwestern's Chris Wilson used a final round two-under 69 to pass second day leader Ryan Brehm, of Michigan State, for medalist honors. Wilson (70-70-71-69) won by a single stroke with a 280, as Brehm (64-72-70-75) closed with a 281 championship total. Purdue's Pariya Junhasavasdikul (71-66-71-75) was third at 283.
The Big Ten Tournament completes the 2005-06 season for the Wolverines.
Team Standings
1. Northwestern 282-286-291-301 = 1160 2. Minnesota 288-294-280-307 = 1169 3. Purdue 284-286-294-306 = 1170 4. Michigan State 277-292-289-314 = 1172 5. Illinois 285-295-288-309 = 1177 6. Indiana 285-288-283-325 = 1181 7. Penn State 293-299-290-315 = 1197 8. Wisconsin 291-296-296-318 = 1201 9. Ohio State 302-309-291-323 = 1225 10. MICHIGAN 308-305-297-318 = 1228 11. Iowa 296-310-302-325 = 1233
Top Individuals
1. Chris Wilson, Northwestern 70-70-71-69 = 280
2. Ryan Brehm, Michigan State 64-72-70-75 = 281
3. Pariya Junhasavasdikul, Purdue 71-66-71-75 = 283
4. Bronson LaCassie, Minnesota 72-71-68-74 = 285
5. Clayton Rask, Minnesota 72-74-69-74 = 289
6. Mark Ogren, Illinois 72-75-69-75 = 291
7. Seth Brandon, Indiana 66-73-73-80 = 292
8. Blair Harkins, Illinois 71-76-73-73 = 293
Matt Harmon, Michigan State 69-71-72-81 = 293
Garrett Jones, Wisconsin 69-72-75-77 = 293
Jeff Kaiser, Wisconsin 71-70-73-79 = 293
Peter Richardson, Purdue 71-73-72-77 = 293
Michigan Individual Scores
T35. Matt McLaughlin 80-73-74-80 = 307 T35. Brian Ottenweller 78-77-72-80 = 307 T39. Christian Vozza 81-75-75-77 = 308 T48. Brandon Duff 73-80-76-84 = 313 55. Tim Schaetzel 77-82-82-81 = 322
Q U O T E S
Michigan Coach Andrew Sapp
On the Big Ten Championships and battling the final round weather ... "We got off to a disappointing start in the first round and that really hurt us. We did improve each round, but not enough to really warrant moving up. Today in the final round, it was just a brutal day. The guys hung in there and we were able to pass Iowa and almost catch Ohio State, but it was just so hard with the conditions on the course. I was talking with some of the other coaches and we talked about how we have never played and concluded a round in those type of conditions ... ever. No one could ever even remember a round like that in the history of the Big Ten. Especially for me, I don't remember anything like that since I started coaching. So, with that being said, for our guys to play thru it and play pretty solid was a good way to complete the tournament that you are disappointed in."
On his thoughts of the 2005-06 season ... "It was real encouraging in the fall and we set some records for Michigan golf, but this spring we just never really got started. It was just a bad spring all together. Even now, we feel like we are just being able to get out and practice, play and compete now, but our season is over. That is just kind of disappointing. We battled a lot of inconsistencies. We had one person play well in a tournament in the spring, where in the fall we had two or three people play well. So, when you only have one person putting up the scores in an event, it is just a recipe for disaster."
On looking ahead to next season ... "Next year is going to be very exciting. With three freshmen coming in, who are all proven winners and the fact we have tons and tons of experienced returning players coming back, the fall is going to be very interesting. It's going to be a battle in qualifying for tournaments and competing against each other. It's a situation where the guys returning are going to have to continue to improve dramatically over the summer because there are going to be a lot of guys who have played a lot of golf in their careers that might not crack the starting lineup. But all of that is good for your team, that internal competition and fighting it out for the starting lineup. Hopefully, that will make us better.
"We will continue to get deeper, especially with our freshman class. They won't have a lot of college experiences, but it is going to be a continual challenge for everybody. We want everyone to step up their games and improve so we can get really get up into the upper half of this conference. That is what our goal is going to be, to get up into the upper half of this conference and with being one of the top four or five teams, you can get a regional bid. That has to be one of our goals for next year."
N O T E S
• Matt McLaughlin (307), Brian Ottenweller (307), Christian Vozza (308), Brandon Duff (313) and Tim Schaetzel (322) all posted career-best 72-hole tournament totals. The past two seasons, the men's golf Big Ten Championship was played as a 54-hole tournament.
• Brandon Duff and Matt McLaughlin both made their postseason debuts in their Michigan careers by playing in their first Big Ten Championship tournament this weekend.
Players Mentioned
