Swanson Posts Career-Best Finish at Season-Opening Gopher Invite

Monday, September 14

Independence, Minn.

6:30 AM CT

Michigan

Gopher Invitational

Swanson Posts Career-Best Finish at Season-Opening Gopher Invite

9/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

Sept. 14, 2015

Tom Swanson

» Michigan rallied in the final round with a 291 to tie for 11th at the season-opening Gopher Invitational.
» Tom Swanson led U-M with his first career top-10 finish, tying for sixth with a career-best 218. Swanson had yet to finish among the top 25 in 14 career events.
» Nick Carlson made his collegiate debut and finished 58th at 228 (81-75-72).

Site: Independence, Minn.
Course: Windsong Farm Golf Club (Par 71, 7,152 yards)
Tournament: Gopher Invitational
U-M Team Standing: Tie-11th Place of 16 Teams (308-296-291/895)
Top U-M Individual: Tom Swanson, tie-6th (75-72-71/218)
Next U-M Event: Mon-Tue., Sept. 21-22 -- at Inverness Intercollegiate (Toledo, Ohio)

INDEPENDENCE, Minn. -- With an career-best performance by junior Tom Swanson, the University of Michigan men's golf team opened the season tying for 11th with an 895 total today (Monday, Sept. 14) at Minnesota's Gopher Invitational played at Windsong Farm Golf Club.

With winds sweeping across the course in Sunday's (Sept. 13) opening round, the Wolverines posted an opening 308. U-M's adjustments paid off in the second 18 of the day as the Wolverines dropped 12 shots with a 296 -- highlighted by a one-over 72 from Swanson. Despite the recovery, U-M's 604 was 13th among the 16-team field.

"We definitely opened the year on a great golf course, and it showed its teeth yesterday with the wind," said U-M head coach Chris Whitten. "For whatever reason we had a really hard time adjusting and put ourselves pretty far behind the pack."

In today's final round, U-M came out swinging and played even par for a majority of the round, before Windsong Farms got the best of U-M over the final three holes. Despite a slow finish, an even-par 71 from Swanson and one-over 72s from sophomore Kyle Mueller and freshman Nick Carlson helped the Wolverines close with a 291 and an 895 total and move up two spots to tie New Mexico and Pepperdine.

"I'm proud of the guys for the way they fought to get things corrected in the second round and again today," said Whitten. "The tournament gave us a really good measuring stick for what we need to work on. I'm sure we will get it corrected quickly."

However, the story of the event was the career-best performance from Swanson. With round tallies of 75, 72 and 71, he posted a career-best 54-hole total of 218 to claim his first career top-10 finish as he tied for sixth. In fact, in 14 prior events, he had not finished among the top 25 individually.

"My putter was the best club in the bag this week for me along with my iron game," said Swanson. "I struggled off the tee for the first 27 holes, but I really turned it around and drove it awesome for the last half of the tournament. I just tried to play smart because there are a lot of places where you can run into trouble. I felt like I kept out of it for the most part."

"It was good to see Tom play very solid tournament," said Whitten. "We all knew he was capable of playing great golf. This is just the tip of the iceberg for him. The key was for him to be able to play from the tees with confidence, and it showed this weekend."

Behind Swanson was senior Chris O'Neill, who started his 37 consecutive event for U-M. With rounds of 73, 74 and 76, he tied for 29th with a 223. Mueller filled out U-M's top three as the tied for 50th at 226 (79-75-72).

In his collegiate debut, Carlson got off to a rocky start, posting an 81, before rallying with rounds of 75 and one-over 72 to finish 58th at 228. Junior Reed Hrynewich rounded out the U-M starting five as he finished 73rd at 239 (85-77-77).

"We definitely got off to a bad start in the middle of yesterday's rounds as we just made too many big numbers," said Swanson. "Today was much better, but we all feel like we should have played better, especially for the finish. We're definitely ready to take today's momentum into Inverness and play how we are capable of playing."

The Wolverines will waste little time before heading back out for tournament action. After returning home, U-M will have a pair of midweek qualifiers before heading down Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 21-22) to Toledo, Ohio, for Toledo's Inverness Intercollegiate at the Inverness Club. The last time U-M played at Inverness was during the 2009 NCAA Finals run, when the Wolverines finished as a national semifinalist.

Final Team Standings

 1. Oklahoma               288-284-282 = 854 (+2) 2. California             291-296-288 = 875 3. Baylor                 292-292-293 = 877    Kent State             290-299-288 = 877 5. Charlotte              291-300-294 = 885 6. SMU                    300-293-296 = 889 7. East Tennessee State   293-298-299 = 890    Michigan State         300-299-291 = 890 9. Iowa State             287-302-303 = 892    Iowa                   299-300-293 = 89211. MICHIGAN               308-296-291 = 895    New Mexico             308-302-285 = 895    Pepperdine             298-304-293 = 89514. Minnesota              310-299-290 = 89915. Minnesota (B)          303-300-298 = 90116. St. John's (Minn.)     309-316-315 = 940

Top Individuals

 1. Max McGreevy, Oklahoma           70-70-66 = 206 (-7) 2. Luke Kwon, Oklahoma              70-69-70 = 209 3. Andreas Gjesteby, Baylor         72-72-71 = 215    Nick Voke, Iowa State            68-72-75 = 215 5. Tom Vining, Minnesota            73-70-74 = 217 6. TOM SWANSON, U-M                 75-72-71 = 218    K.K. Limbhasut, California       75-69-74 = 218    Sebastian Crampton, California   73-78-67 = 218    Brad Dalke, Oklahoma             72-71-75 = 218

Other Michigan Individuals

T29. Chris O'Neill    73-74-76 = 223T50. Kyle Mueller     79-75-72 = 226 58. Nick Carlson     81-75-72 = 228 73. Reed Hrynewich   85-77-77 = 239

Communications Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423

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