Michigan
Linger Longer Invitational
Schaetzel Leads U-M to 10th at Linger Longer Invitational
3/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Site: Greensboro, Ga.
Course: Reynolds Landing (par 72, 7,393 yards)
Tournament: Linger Longer Invitational
U-M Standing: 10th Place of 14 Teams (302-296-296/894)
Top U-M Individual: Tim Schaetzel, tie-11th (74-70-73/217)
Next Event: Monday-Tuesday, April 7-8 C at Missouri Tiger Invitational (Columbia, Mo.)
GREENSBORO, Ga.-- After a slow start and rainy conditions for the most the tournament, the University of Michigan men's golf team closed with a solid 10th place showing Sunday (March 16) with an 894 54-hole total at the 2008 Linger Longer Invitational at Reynolds Landing.
With rainy conditions throughout the first round, the Maize and Blue opened the event with a 302, which snapped U-M's streak of 15 straight rounds of team rounds below 300, to sit 13th. After a two-under 70 from senior co-captain Tim Schaetzel(Atlanta, Ga./Pace Academy) and an even par 72 from freshman Lion Kim(Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary Prep) in the second round, the Wolverine improved six strokes to post a 296 second round tally to move up two spots to 11th before thunderstorms rolled in during the later stages of the round. With the rains departing completely for the third round, the Maize and Blue closed with its second straight 296 team round thanks in part to junior Nick Pumford's(St. Charles, Mich./St. Charles) one-under 71 and Schaetzel's 73 to move up one more spot to finish 10th with an 894 total.
Individually for the Maize and Blue, Schaetzel finished as the top Wolverine for the third time this season with a one-over 217 tournament total. After opening with a two-over 74 in the rainy first round, he rallied in the second with his ninth round of par or better with a two-under 70 in the second round. He closed with a one-over 73 to finish with his fifth top 20 tally this season.
Using a final round one-under 71, Pumford tied for 36th with a 225 total. He posted rounds of 76 and 78 during the first two days of play. Junior Bill Rankin(Traverse City, Mich./Central) and freshman Alexander Sitompul(Jakarta, Indonesia/Bradenton Prep) tied for 51st with 229 totals. Rankin posted back-to-back 76s before closing with a 77, while Sitompul had rounds of 76, 78 and 75 for his 229 total. Kim closed out the Wolverines at the tournament as he was 65th with a 232 total after rounds of 81, 72 and 79.
No. 26 Mississippi (277-292-287) held off a late third round charge from No. 2 Georgia (284-291-286) to win the team title, as the Rebels tallied an eight-under 856 event total, while the Bulldogs were the runner-up at 861. No. 24 Tennessee-Chattanooga (278-298-291) was third at 867. Individually, Memphis' Robbie Greenwell maintained his lead as the won by three shots with a 208 total (68-68-72). Georgia State's Joel Sjoholm was the runner-up at 211 (699-70-72).
The Wolverines will be off for almost three weeks, prepping for the stretch run before the postseason begins. The Maize and Blue will next see action Monday and Tuesday (April 7-8) when U-M heads to Columbia, Mo., for the 2008 Missouri Tiger Invitational. The 54-hole tournament will be played at the Club at Old Hawthorne.
Team Standings
1. Mississippi 277-292-287 = 856 (-8) 2. Georgia 284-291-286 = 861 3. Tennessee-Chattanooga 278-298-291 = 867 4. Georgia State 284-293-303 = 880 5. Memphis 296-290-295 = 881 6. Texas Tech 296-297-292 = 885 7. Clemson 292-301-295 = 888 8. Kennesaw State 285-301-304 = 890 Eastern Michigan 289-296-305 = 890 10. MICHIGAN 302-296-296 = 894 11. South Alabama 299-300-300 = 899 Mercer 292-304-303 = 899 13. Mississippi State 293-310-305 = 908 Purdue 312-298-298 = 908
Top Individuals
1. Robbie Greenwell, Memphis 68-68-72 = 208 (-8) 2. Joel Sjoholm, Georgia State 69-70-72 = 211 3. Brian Harman, Georgia 74-67-72 = 213 David Marino, Mississippi 67-77-69 = 213 5. Russell Henley, Georgia 67-77-70 = 214 6. J.T. Clendenin, Tennessee-Chattanooga 66-72-77 = 215 Kyle Ellis, Mississippi 72-71-72 = 215 Jonathan Randolph, Mississippi 69-74-72 = 215 9. Tom Sherreard, Georgia State 71-72-73 = 216 Oliver West, Kennesaw State 67-74-75 = 216
Other Michigan Individuals
T11. Tim Schaetzel 74-70-73 = 217 T36. Nick Pumford 76-78-71 = 225 T51. Alexander Sitompul 76-78-75 = 229 T51. Bill Rankin 76-76-77 = 229 65. Lion Kim 81-72-79 = 232Â
NO T E S
With his tie for 11th at the Linger Longer Invitational, Tim Schaetzel has posted five top 20 individual finishes this season. He also finished as the top Wolverine at a tournament for the third time this season.
With his two-under 70 in the second round of the Linger Longer Invitational, Tim Schaetzel leads the Wolverines with nine rounds of par or better this season. With a one-under 71 in the third round, Nick Pumford stayed right behind Schaetzel posting his eighth par or better round this season.
Tim Schaetzel and Bill Rankin are the only Wolverines to have started all eight tournaments this season. In fact, with starts at the Linger Longer Invitational, Schaetzel has started the last 35 events for the Wolverines, while Rankin has started the last 19 straight events.
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Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Andrew Sapp
On the tournament weekend ... "We just had a bad finish today and that was disappointing. We had a bad start to our tournament and we just really didn't play up to our expectations throughout the whole weekend. Other than Tim (Schaetzel), it was very disappointing. Nick (Pumford) played great this afternoon, finishing with a 71. It was a good to see him bounce back from the 78 yesterday. And Lion (Kim) had a good second round, but outside of those two rounds and Tim's overall three rounds, we just didn't put together any good scores. So when you're only counting two good scores the last two days you're not going to move up a whole lot on the leaderboard. So we've got about 20 to 21 days before we leave for Missouri so we've got a lot of work to do and get some things ironed out and improve upon this. We are definitely not where we wanted to be this week. So looking forward to getting back to Ann Arbor and getting some work; hopefully we'll get some good weather and be able to get a lot of good work done outside before our next event."
Senior Tim Schaetzel
On his thoughts on the tournament ... "It was a disappointing week. We had been playing pretty well coming off a good week in Puerto Rico, everybody felt real confident going into this week. We just struggled as a group. At least Nick (Pumford) was able to kind of put in a good round a day and Lion (Kim) had at least a good round and Alex (Sitompul) started to hit a little better today; Bill (Rankin) struggled a little this week but I think everybody - just in general - was disappointed that we weren't able to finish higher. We've got some more opportunities coming up this spring; we have a couple weeks here to get some good practice and qualifying in if it warms up and we'll be ready to go to Missouri."
On his play this weekend ... "Individually I felt pretty good about my game. I felt like I hit some really, really good shots at times and had some really good holes but my biggest problem was big numbers. I had two doubles and a triple on some of the easier holes on the golf course that really put me back. They were the difference between me finishing 11th and me contending this week so I've got some things to work on myself and I'll also get ready for Missouri."
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
