This Week in Michigan Men's Golf: Royal Oaks Intercollegiate
10/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Oct. 21, 2016
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• Honors & Awards: 2016-17
THIS WEEK
Mon-Tue., Oct. 24-25 -- at Royal Oaks Intercollegiate (Dallas, Texas)
Live Scoring | Royal Oaks Country Club
Next on the Tee: Royal Oaks Intercollegiate
The University of Michigan men's golf team will close out its fall season heading south to Dallas, Texas, for Baylor's Royal Oaks Intercollegiate this Monday and Tuesday (Oct. 24-25). An 11-team field will play 54 holes over the two-day event held at the Royal Oaks Country Club. Playing in the unique 6-count-5 format, the field will open with 36 holes on Monday and a final 18 on Tuesday. The course will be set up for a par 71 and 7,068 yards.
The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate Field
There will be 11 teams in the field at the Royal Oaks intercollegiate, including host Baylor, Charlotte, Houston, Iowa, Kent State, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pepperdine, SMU and UT Arlington.
The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate Variation
The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate will be played in a 6-count-5 format, offering an additional player to each of the 11 teams. A rare playing format, U-M is not a stranger to it as the Wolverines played in the 6-count-5 format in back-to-back years at the 2010 and 2011 Fresno State Lexus Classic as well as the 2014 Royal Oaks Intercollegiate.
The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate Schedule
Saturday, Oct. 22 -- Travel Day
Sunday, Oct. 23 -- Practice Round (18), 1 p.m. CT (shotgun)
Monday, Oct. 24 -- First Round (18), 8:30 a.m. CT (shotgun)
Monday, Oct. 24 -- Second Round (18), continuous play following completion of first round
Tuesday, Oct. 25 -- Final Round (18), 8:15 a.m. CT (tee times off Nos. 1 & 10)
The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate Lineup
Michigan will bring a six-member starting squad the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate -- sophomore Nick Carlson, senior Bryce Evon, senior Reed Hrynewich, junior Ian Kim, junior Kyle Mueller and senior Tom Swanson.
Last Year at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate
Michigan was to close the 2015 fall season at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, however, heavy rain, unplayable course conditions and potential flooding resulting from effects of Hurricane Patricia forced its cancellation.
Two Years ago at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate
Led by Kyle Mueller's tie for 24th individually, Michigan closed its 2014 fall season posting a 10th-place finish at Baylor's Royal Oaks Intercollegiate held at the Royal Oaks Country Club. Playing in the rare 6-count-5 format, U-M had a team tally of 1,124. After Mueller's top-25 finish, the Wolverines had a trio tie for 44th -- Chris O'Neill, Brett McIntosh and Noori Hyun. [ Recap ]
WOLVERINE BITES
• After transferring from Idaho, Ian Kim made his Michigan debut at the Dayton Flyer Invitational (Oct. 17-18). All he did was tie with teammate Nick Carlson for medalist honors with an even par 142 (70-72) and then par the first playoff hole to be outright medalist. For his efforts, he was named the Big Ten Golfer of the Week -- U-M's third honor of the fall.
• U-M's individual battle for the top two spots is heating up. Nick Carlson is holding the lead with a 70.78 per-round average with five sub-par rounds. Kyle Mueller has 6-of-11 rounds under par and is second at 71.09. So far this fall, seven Wolverines has shot a sub-par round as U-M has 16 total. As a team, the Wolverines average 73.89 per individual round.
• With his expected start at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, Kyle Mueller has started the all 28 tournaments of his career. He played in 13 events as a freshman after earning an individual invite to the NCAA Finals after nearly winning the 2014 NCAA Washington Regional (t-2nd). Last season, he started all 11 events. In addition to Mueller, Nick Carlson has started all 15 of his events in his young career.
• So far the final round has been U-M's go-to round. Through the four fall events, the Wolverines have averaged 288.50 in the first round and 293.00 in the second but drop 10 shots in the final round, carrying a 283.00 closing average. Overall, U-M is averaging 288.64 as a team, which below last season's program record of 290.21.
• Using four individual sub-par rounds, Michigan posted a 270 (-14) final round at the Inverness Intercollegiate to lower the program single-round record by two shots. Last fall, U-M posted a 272 (-12) in the first round of the MacKenzie (Oct. 12-13, 2015) to set a new program mark. Overall, it is just the seventh double-digit under-par team total in U-M history. In addition, the record round shattered the event's single-round record by seven, which was posted by Duke (277) in the first round.
• En route to U-M's record-breaking 270 (-14) team total, Tom Swanson and Nick Carlson each carded career-best rounds of 67 (-4). Swanson, who broke 70 for the first time in his U-M career, played opening nine holes at six under with two eagles and three birdies to help record his top round. With five birdies and an eagle of his own, Carlson lowered his previous best by a shot.
THREE TITLES IN FOUR EVENTS
• Ian Kim walked away with the individual title at the Dayton Individual (Oct. 17-18), winning a playoff against teammate Nick Carlson and helping U-M to its first team title of the season. Kim opened with a U-M career-best 70 (-1) and battled gusty winds to shoot 72 in the second round, finding himself tied with Carlson after regulation. Kim then got up and down for par on the first playoff hole to claim the individual trophy.
• Kyle Mueller won his second career title after he was the only individual to shoot three sub-par rounds at the Windon Memorial Classic (Sept. 25-26). Using his length to his advantage, he played the par 5s at six under while recording 12 total birdies and an eagle. After back-to-back rounds of one-under 71, he was tied for seventh. Battling the gusty winds in the final round, he posted at 67 (-5) for the 78-player field's only sub-70 round to cap his second career title by three shots at 209 (-7).
• Winning the first hole of a playoff, Nick Carlson won U-M's season-opening event -- the Inverness Intercollegiate (Sept. 19-20) played at the famed Inverness Club. With a final-round career-best 67, Carlson finished regulation with a career-best 209 (69-73-67, -4) and tied with Duke's Jake Shuman (70-71-68). With a playoff needed to determine the overall medalist, Carlson stuck his approach to 15 feet for birdie and then tapped in for par on the opening hole, while Shuman missed right and bogeyed from 30 feet.
CHIPS & PUTTS
• Michigan has a record of 42-11 overall and 9-0 against the Big Ten this season.
• U-M is averaging a school-record-pace 288.64 per team round. The all-time mark was set last season (290.21).
• The Wolverines tallied a U-M record 270 (-14) in the final round of the Inverness Intercollegiate (Sept. 19-20). It topped the 272 (-12) set last season set in the first round of 2015 The MacKenzie.
• A Michigan individual has won three of four fall events -- Nick Carlson at the Inverness Intercollegiate, Kyle Mueller at the Windon Memorial Classic and Ian Kim at the Dayton Flyer Invitational.
• With three individual titles, Carlson, Mueller (co) and Kim (co) have claimed three of the first four Big Ten Golfer of the Week honors.
• Through four events, Nick Carlson (70.82) and Kyle Mueller (71.09) and are well below U-M's all-time mark for scoring average set by Mueller (71.72, 2015-16) last season.
THE MAIZE & BLUE RUN AT THE U.S. AMATEUR
Michigan had three players -- Nick Carlson, Kyle Mueller and Tom Swanson -- qualify and compete at the 2016 U.S. Amateur played at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. Carlson, who earned the 41st seed for match play, was the lone Wolverine to advance out of match play and had a magical run to the Final Four.
After a 2-and-1 win over Zach Foshee (Oregon), Carlson faced No. 9 Scott Gregory (England). With the first of two 19-hole wins on the day, he took down Gregory and followed with a second extra-hole win over No. 8 K.K. Lambhaust (Cal) to reach the Elite Eight.
Trailing by two after nine holes to No. 33 seed Dylan Meyer (Illinois), a weather delay midway through the match helped Carlson refocus as he rallied to win five of the first six backside holes which led to an eventual 3-and-1 victory. Facing Curtis Luck in the semifinal, Carlson held a 1-up lead through 17 holes before dropping the 18th hole sending the match to extra holes. In a dramatic three extra holes, Carlson came up just short, losing 1-up to the eventual U.S. Amateur champ Luck. [ Reliving the U.S. Amateur | U-M at U.S. Amateur ]
UP NEXT
Fri-Sat., Feb. 10-11 -- at Big Ten Match Play Championships (Palm Coast, Fla.)
Mon-Tue., Feb. 27-28 -- at Southwestern Jones Invitational (Westlake Village, Calif.)
Communications Contact: Tom Wywrot
