Rankin Leads Wolverines at Inverness Intercollegiate

Monday, September 10

Toledo, Ohio

Michigan

Inverness Intercollegiate

9/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

TOLEDO, Ohio -- The University of Michigan men's golf team played its second tournament in a four-day span and finished with a 15th-place showing today (Tuesday, Sept. 11) at the prestigious Inverness Intercollegiate. The Wolverines closed with a 909 54-hole total at the Inverness Club after team rounds of 307, 297 and 305.

Junior Bill Rankin (Traverse City, Mich./Central) led U-M for the second tournament this season as he tied for 36th with a 225 total. After opening with a 74, he followed with a 76 in the second round to finish the first day of play at 150. He closed the tournament with a team-best 75 in the final round. Senior co-captain Tim Schaetzel (Atlanta, Ga./Pace Academy) posted a tie for 50th with a 227 total. He opened with a 79 but rallied in the second round, posting U-M's best single round of the entire tournament with a 72. He fired a 76 in the final round.

Senior co-captain Brian Ottenweller (Grand Rapids, Mich./Catholic Central) and freshman Lion Kim (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary Prep) both tied for 57th with 229 totals. Ottenweller garnered his total with rounds of 79, 74 and 76, while Kim posted rounds of 76, 75 and 78. Sophomore Billy McKay (Grand Blanc, Mich./David Leadbetter Golf Academy) closed out the Wolverines' tournament roster, tying for 74th with a 235 total (78-78-79).

Florida State took the team title after battling with Michigan State the entire tournament. The Seminoles closed with a tournament-record 862 (287-281-294), while the Spartans (282-289-297) were just four strokes back at 868. Florida finished third at 869 (282-289-297).

Individually, FSU's Jonas Blixt and MSU's Ryan Brehm went down to the wire as they tied for medalist honors with record-setting, three-under 210 totals. Blixt finished the first day with a two-shot lead after rounds of 67-68 (135), while Brehm was right behind at 137 (70-67). In the final round, Blixt posted a 75 and Brehm gained the two strokes back with a 73 to give them a tie for the individual title. They are the first golfers to be under par in the seven-year history of the Inverness Intercollegiate.

After two tournaments in a four-day span, the Wolverines will not compete again for just under two weeks before they head to Zionsville, Ind., Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 22-23) to play the Wolf Run Intercollegiate for the second straight season. The 54-hole event, hosted by Indiana, will be played at the Wolf Run Country Club. Last year, the Maize and Blue finish eighth as a team at Wolf Run.

Team Standings

 1. Florida State 287-281-294 = 862 2. Michigan State 282-289-297 = 868 3. Florida 296-284-289 = 869 4. Texas A&M 292-287-294 = 873 5. Louisville 290-288-297 = 875 6. Indiana 285-294-302 = 881 7. Oklahoma State 299-295-290 = 884 8. Southern Cal 293-289-304 = 886 9. TCU 290-294-308 = 892 10. Toledo 299-287-309 = 895 11. Kent State 300-299-300 = 899 12. UNLV 302-307-293 = 902 13. Kentucky 304-288-314 = 906 14. Missouri 311-291-306 = 908 15. MICHIGAN 307-297-305 = 909 16. UNC Greensboro 306-310-315 = 931

Top Individuals

 1. Jonas Blixt, Florida State 67-68-75 = 210 Ryan Brehm, Michigan State 70-67-73 = 210 3. Steve Cuzzort, Michigan State 70-73-68 = 211 Manuel Villegas, Florida 73-69-69 = 211 5. Seth Brandon, Indiana 71-73-70 = 214 Matthew Savage, Florida State 75-68-71 = 214 7. Martin Piller, Texas A&M 69-72-74 = 215 Andy Winings, Kentucky 76-67-72 = 215 9. Andrea Pavan, Texas A&M 72-71-73 = 216 10. Tyson Alexander, Florida 76-68-73 = 217 Derek Fathauer, Louisville 72-74-71 = 217

Michigan Individual Scores

T36. Bill Rankin 74-76-75 = 225 T50. Tim Schaetzel 79-72-76 = 227 T57. Brian Ottenweller 79-74-76 = 229 T57. Lion Kim 76-75-78 = 229 T74. Billy McKay 78-78-79 = 235

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Andrew Sapp
On the play of U-M at the Inverness Intercollegiate ... "Coming off playing well at Purdue, it's disappointing to not back that up. We were hoping to validate our good play by competing against some of the best teams in the country and doing well at Inverness. Unfortunately, we got off to a horrible start. We improved in the second round, but most of the teams improved as well, keeping us from moving up the leaderboard. In the third round, we were sort of swimming upstream to see if we could catch and pass people. We played okay and had a couple of guys play solidly, but the course was playing extremely difficult today and if you didn't have your 'A' game it was going to beat you up a little bit."

On what the troubles were for the Wolverines ... "It was a combination of shot selection and putting. It really depended on the person. Tim (Schaetzel) said he missed six or seven putts within eight feet; other guys couldn't hit the ball in the fairway off the tee, or they hit some errant tee shots that they had to pitch out and make bogey or double bogey. Other guys it was putting or hitting poor irons shots into the greens. It's a golf course that is difficult. If you are not hitting greens, especially in the final round where they are going to tuck the hole locations, it's going to be difficult to get up and down, or you are going to have to make a 15-footer."

N O T E S

Michigan played two tournaments in a span of four days -- Purdue's Midwest Shootout (Sept. 8) and the Inverness Intercolleigate (Sept. 10-11).

Bill Rankin has led Michigan in both tournament this season. He tied for medalist honors, along with teammate Tim Schaetzel and three other golfers, at Purdue's Midwest Shootout before tying for 36th at Inverness to lead U-M.

Tim Schaetzel started his 29th straight tournament for the Wolverines at the Inverness Intercollegiate. Bill Rankin started in his 13th straight tournament, Billy McKay started his eighth straight, and Brian Ottenweller started his sixth straight.