This Week in Michigan Men's Golf: Royal Oaks Intercollegiate

THIS WEEK
Mon-Tue., Oct. 23-24 -- Royal Oaks Intercollegiate (Dallas, Texas)
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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, Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 23-24. A 12-team field will play 54 holes over the two-day event held at the Royal Oaks Country Club. 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 12 teams in the field at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, including Arkansas, Baylor, Houston, Iowa, Kent State, Liberty, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pepperdine, Southern Methodist, Texas-San Antonio and UNC Charlotte.

The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate Lineup
Michigan will bring a five-member starting squad for the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, including senior Kyle Mueller, junior Nick Carlson, senior Ian Kim, sophomore Brent Ito and freshman Charlie Pilon. Freshman Connor Prassas will play as an invited individual.

The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate Schedule
Saturday, Oct. 21 -- Travel Day
Sunday, Oct. 21 -- Practice Round, 1 p.m. CDT (shotgun)
Monday, Oct. 22 -- First Round (18), 8:30 a.m. CDT (shotgun)
Monday, Oct. 22 -- Second Round (18), continuous play after round one
Tuesday, Oct. 23 -- Final Round (18), 8:15 a.m. CDT (tee times off Nos. 1 and 10)

The Last Three Years at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate
Last season, U-M rallied in the final round to finish third at Baylor's 2016 event with a 1,069 total, playing in the unique 6-count-5 format. Kyle Mueller (T-6th; 209, -4) and Nick Carlson (T-9th; 210, -3) led the Wolverines with top-10 finishes. The 2015 event was cancelled due to heavy rains, unplayable course conditions and potential flooding resulting from effects of Hurricane Patricia. Mueller led the Wolverines at the 2014 event, tying for 24th as U-M was 10th with a 1,124 total, once again playing in the 6-count-5 format. [ Recaps: 2014 | 2015 | 2016 ]

WOLVERINE BITES
• A special invitation was given to freshman Henry Spring to compete in the Asian-Pacific Amateur at the Royal Wellington Golf Club in his home country of New Zealand. The four-round championship will be played Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 26-29 with the winner earning a spot in the 2018 Masters field. Last year, Australia's Curtis Luck, who defeated Nick Carlson in the semifinal of the U.S. Amateur, used a final 67 (-5) to rally from seven shots back to take the title. [ Asia-Pacific Amateur ]

• Michigan posted a pair of top-five finishes in its three fall events. U-M opened the season tying for third in the rain-shortened Inverness Intercollegiate and came back to earn a fifth-place finish at the Northern Intercollegiate. As a team, the Wolverines are averaging 286.50 with three sub-par team totals, including a season-best 280 (-4) in the second round at Inverness.

• With his expected start at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, Kyle Mueller will have started 41 straight tournaments -- not missing an event his entire career. He played in 13 events as a freshman, 11 as a sophomore and 13 as a junior. In addition, Nick Carlson has yet to miss a tournament in three seasons, starting 27 consecutive events.

• Saying Mueller's final season has started off right would be an understatement. After leading U-M in all three fall events with three straight sub-par performances, he is averaging 68.75 per-round average. In fact, six of his eight rounds have been under-par with five sub-70 with a U-M record 63 (-7) carded in the second round of the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate. Currently, Mueller has recorded 47 sub-par scores in 107 rounds (43.9 percent). As a sophomore he set the U-M record with a 71.72 per-round average, only to break that with his 71.36 mark last season.

• Adding to his list of records at Michigan, Mueller became the first Wolverines to shoot 63 (-7), snapping the record of 64 held by four Wolverines, including Mueller himself. In fact, all five of U-M's top rounds of all time were recorded in the fall as well as in the second round of each event. In Mueller's record round, he recorded eight birdies, one bogey and nine pars including a final round 10-foot birdie putt for the record.

U-M's Top 5 Single Rounds
63 (-7), Kyle Mueller at 2017 Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate (Oct. 9-10)
64 (-7), Kyle Mueller at 2015 Alister MacKenzie Invitational (Oct. 12-13)
64 (-8), Bill Rankin at 2008 Bridgestone Intercollegiate (Oct. 27-28)
64 (-7), Christian Vozza at 2005 Alister MacKenzie Invitational (Oct. 10-11)
64 (-7), Michael Harris at 1998 Northern Intercollegiate (Sept. 18-19)

• The list of Mueller's honors at Michigan continues to grow. With his latest record of U-M's top single-round tally of 63 (-7) he now holds eight outright records in the annals of Michigan golf history.

Mueller's List of Michigan Records
• U-M single season scoring: 71.36 (2016-17); only Wolverine in history to post sub-72 average
• U-M season scoring (by class): freshman (72.56), sophomore (71.72) and junior (71.36)
• U-M single-round: 63 (-7) in the second round at the 2017 Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate (Oct. 9-10)
• U-M 36-hole tournament: 135 (68-67, -7) at the 2017 Inverness Intercollegiate (Sept. 18-19)
• U-M 54-hole tournament: 198 (69-64-65, -15) at 2015 The MacKenzie (Oct. 12-13); first Wolverine to post sub-200 tournament total
• U-M 54-hole Big Ten Tournament: 209 (-7) at the 2016 conference championships

• Like a repeating scene, Michigan has been led by Mueller and Carlson all three fall events. In the three seasons together, the Maize and Blue duo has finished as the top two in 11 of 27 events. So far this season, Mueller has led U-M in all three events, with Carlson right behind him. Mueller has three straight top-10 finishes after tying for third (135, -7) at the Inverness Intercollegiate, tying for eighth (212, -4) at the Northern Intercollegiate and finishing fifth (203, -7) at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate.

INSIDE THE MAIZE AND BLUE
• Michigan made its third straight NCAA regional appearance as a team in 2016-17, finishing 10th at the Washington Regional. Kyle Mueller led the Wolverines, tying for eighth individually and missing advancing to his second NCAA Finals by a single shot.

• Mueller earned his third straight All-Big Ten selection and second first-team accolade in 2016-17. He became the second Wolverine in program history to earn three All-Big Ten honors, joining Michael Harris, who was a three-time first teamer (1998-2000). Mueller has second-team honors as a freshman (2015) and back-to-back years of first-team selections (2016 & 2017).

• In addition to his Big Ten honor, Mueller garnered PING All-America honorable mention by the Golf Coaches Association of America, becoming the 10th Wolverine to earn an All-America accolade and the first in six years (2011).

• Mueller and Carlson both competed at the 2017 U.S. Amateur in California. Mueller made his third straight appearance and advanced to match play for the second time, reaching the round of 32. Carlson made his second straight trip after his remarkable run to the Final Four in 2016.

UP NEXT
• Fri-Sat., Feb. 9-10 -- Big Ten Match Play Championships (Palm Coast, Fla.)
• Mon-Tue., Feb. 26-27 -- Southwestern Jones Invitational (Westlake Village, Calif.)