Michigan
Robert Kepler Intercollegiate
Veterans Help Wolverines Close Ninth at Ohio State
4/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Site: Columbus, Ohio
Course: Ohio State Scarlet Course (par 71, 7,455 yards)
Tournament: Robert Kepler Intercollegiate
U-M Standing: 9th Place of 14 Teams (314-316-298/928)
Top U-M Individual: Bill Rankin, tie-13th (77-77-72/226)
Next Event: Friday-Sunday, April 25-27 -- at Big Ten Championships (East Lansing, Mich.)
COLUMBUS, Ohio--Using a one-over 72 from junior Bill Rankin(Traverse City, Mich./Central) and a two-over 73 from senior co-captain Tim Schaetzel(Atlanta, Ga./Pace Academy), the University of Michigan men's golf team rallied to post the third best team total of the final round with a 298 Sunday (April 13) to move up two positions and close ninth with a 928 tournament total at Ohio State's Robert Kepler Intercollegiate.
With rain and strong winds hampering play during Saturday's first 36 holes, course averages were up nearly eight strokes from the normal par 71 as scores skyrocketed across the field. With the challenging conditions, the Maize and Blue opened with a 314 first round team total, followed by a 316 in the second round to post a 630 first day total and 11th place position on the leaderboard.
With a light drizzle and weather conditions overcast but much improved on Sunday, the final-round averages were up three strokes from the day before as teams rallied on the final day. For the Maize and Blue, veterans Rankin and Schaetzel stepped up their games, firing rounds of 72 and 73, respectively, to help U-M close ninth with a 928 54-hole event total.
For the second straight tournament, Rankin closed as the top Wolverine after he tied for 13th with a 226 54-hole total. After posting back-to-back rounds of 77 during the first 36 holes, he rallied U-M in the final round with a one-over 72. Opening with a bogey on his first hole of the final round -- No. 11 -- he posted seven straight pars before bogeying his second hole of the round on No. 1. During his next eight holes on the front side he played two-under after birdies on Nos. 5 and 7 put him back at even par. Unfortunately on his closing hole he bogeyed the par 4, No. 10 to close with the one-over 72.
Like the rest of the Wolverines, Schaetzel battled the weather throughout the first 36 holes, posting rounds of 79 and 78. In the final round he used his experience and course management skills to follow Rankin's lead, closing with a two-over 73 to tie for 23rd with a 230 event total. In the final round, Schaetzel opened double-bogeying his opening hole -- No. 10 -- before he caught fire as he played three-under golf during his next 15 holes. Birdies on No. 12 and back-to-back birdies on No. 2 and 3 helped him go one-under with two holes to play. Unfortunately a triple-bogey on the par 3, No. 8 pushed him back to two-over par where he remained closing with a par on his final hole.
Other Wolverine finishes included: junior Nick Pumford(St. Charles, Mich./St. Charles), tied for 41st with a 235 total (80-80-75), freshman Alexander Sitompul(Jakarta, Indonesia/Bradenton Prep), tied for 47th with a 237 total (78-81-78) and freshman Lion Kim(Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary Prep), tied for 66th with a 244 total (84-82-78).
Colorado posted a tournament-best 294 in the final round to overtake first day leader Michigan State for the team title. The Buffaloes (299-307-294) won with a 900 54-hole total, while the Spartans (303-302-298) were second at 903. Kent State (305-304-299) closed third at 908. Despite not winning the team title, MSU's Ryan Brehm was able to take medalist honors winning by four strokes with a 218 total (73-72-73). Penn State's T. J. Howe (73-75-74), Iowa's Cole Peevler (78-73-71) and Colorado's Luke Symons (72-78-72) all tied for the runner-up spot at 222.
The Wolverines will begin their second phase of their schedule with the 2008 Big Ten Championships, Friday through Sunday (April 25-27) in East Lansing, Mich. The 72 hole tournament, hosted by Michigan State, will be played at Forest Akers West.
Team Standings
1. Colorado 299-307-294 = 900 2. Michigan State 303-302-298 = 903 3. Kent State 305-304-299 = 908 4. Ohio State 298-310-301 = 909 5. Northwestern 317-297-298 = 912 6. Penn State 303-310-303 = 916 7. Louisville 313-307-297 = 917 8. Wisconsin 301-313-310 = 924 9. MICHIGAN 314-316-298 = 928 10. Purdue 311-312-307 = 930 11. Iowa 319-312-301 = 932 12. Furman 311-318-311 = 940 13. UNC Wilmington 314-319-314 = 947 14. Marshall 322-321-312 = 955
Top Individuals
1. Ryan Brehm, Michigan State 73-72-73 = 218 2. T.J. Howe, Penn State 73-75-74 = 222 Cole Peevler, Iowa 78-73-71 = 222 Luke Symons, Colorado 72-78-72 = 222 5. Adam Rainaud, Louisville 77-75-71 = 223 Zach Sebert, Ohio State 71-74-78 = 223* 7. Derek Fathauer, Louisville 75-78-71 = 224 David Markle, Kent State 73-76-75 = 224 Tyler Obermueller, Wisconsin 71-77-76 = 224 10. Michael Baird, Colorado 73-78-74 = 225 John Hahn, Kent State 76-79-70 = 225 Kyle Moore, Northwestern 78-73-74 = 225
Michigan Individuals
T13. Bill Rankin 77-77-72 = 226 T23. Tim Schaetzel 79-78-73 = 230 T41. Nick Pumford 80-80-75 = 235 T47. Alexander Sitompul 78-81-78 = 237 T66. Lion Kim 84-82-78 = 244 * played as individualÂ
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Q UO T E S
Michigan Head Coach Andrew Sapp
"On the team's strong finish in the final round ... "Obviously, it's nice to compete well on the final day. It's good to move up the leaderboard. The last couple tournaments, it seems like we've been moving down the leaderboard the final day, so that's definitely good. If there is any consolation, which there isn't much, it's nice to be one of the best teams in the final round. Unfortunately, we dug a very deep hole with our poor play yesterday. It totals out, still, to a ninth-place finish, which is unacceptable."
On if weather is a factor or if it is simply something all teams have to deal with ... "If you look at some of the teams who played well, they probably have a lot of experience playing in this type of weather. Obviously, we've got two freshmen who from Florida who haven't seen this type of weather like kids from Michigan have normally. So they haven't played on this golf course in these type of conditions before. It's an adjustment period, obviously, for those guys. Then you can kind of see that, as players mature (it gets easier). Bill (Rankin) and Tim (Schaetzel) who have experience on this golf course playing in this type of weather were the low guys for us. So a lot of this is a level of experience battling through those types of conditions, especially on a golf course that really plays as hard as just about any golf course we'll play all year long."
On if it was a good opportunity experience-wise to face a lot of Big Ten teams ... "It was good opportunity, we just didn't do well at it. We've got a lot of work to do if we're going to get ready for Big Ten's at Michigan State in order to compete at the level of some of these other teams. Hopefully we'll have good weather there. We're going to C these guys get a study day and go play a practice round over at Forrest Akers C the site of the Big Ten Championships. Hopefully that will help us be more precarious, but we've got a lot of work to do between now and then and we've got exams in between now and then as well. We're going to have to be very diligent with our time and energy to do well in both in preparation for finals as well as preparation for Big Tens."
On if he sees Bill Rankin's game coming around ... "Yeah, his swing has gotten much better. He's been working hard on it the past few weeks in between Georgia and Missouri. He's hitting the ball a lot better. But when you're hitting more drives in the fairway and more shots on the green, obviously your scores are going to go down. So, yeah, he's been working hard. It's good to see him shooting some good scores."
Junior Bill Rankin
On his progression leading up to the end of the season ... "I put a lot of work in and it's encouraging to see that I've been playing a little bit better. It keeps feeling, each time I go out, like it's a little bit closer to where it needs to be and, obviously, finishing higher and higher in the field is definitely something you want to be doing. I am hitting the ball a lot better, but I feel more coachable with what my swing is doing. I know where things are going and it's really that I'm more comfortable and feel more confident in what I'm doing. It's definitely frustrating, though, because it's basically just the best of the lower tier that we have at the moment C at least in the last two tournaments. When look at me playing that much better because normally we have a couple guys finishing this high C it's nothing spectacular. So I definitely have a long way to go and a lot of stuff to work on but it's getting there."
On how this team will strike back ... "I know that we're not playing to our capability at all at the moment and it's been disappointing, there's no doubt about it. But, if anything, this has to be something to build off. You've got to take the positive out of the situation that we've had the last couple weeks and just keep working on everything. You can't be C I think we've been a little complacent the last couple weeks. The effort is there. It's not that we're not capable, it's not that we're not putting in the time C we've just got to get it done under pressure. We've got to close out some of the rounds. Even the older guys are making some immature mistakes out there and stuff that's uncharacteristic of the way we've played when we've played well. I think we've got to close out our rounds, we've got to finish it off and we've sort of, I think, have to get our swagger back. I think you can build confidence in practice and you've got to build off the things that you do well. We have five guys who we know have a chance to win every tournament and I think, when we go back to focusing on having each individual playing for the individual title C that's the best way you can help out your team. If everyone's focused toward that goal I think we're going to have a lot of guys then I think we're going to have a lot of guys playing well."
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N O T E S
Michigan's final round 298 at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate was one of just nine team rounds under 300 on the lengthy and challenging OSU Scarlet Course. The Wolverines have just six team rounds, out of 28 total, above 300 this season.
After leading Michigan the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate, Bill Rankin has finished as the top Wolverine individual in the last two events. Overall it marked the fourth top spot for Rankin this season.
Tim Schaetzel and Bill Rankin are the only Wolverines to have started all 10 tournaments this season. In fact, with starts at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate, Schaetzel has started the last 37 events for the Wolverines, while Rankin has started the last 21 straight events for the Maize and Blue.
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
