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

» Michigan closes its fall season in Carrollton, Texas, at Baylor's Royal Oaks Intercollegiate on Monday and Tuesday (Oct. 22-23) at the Maridoe Golf Club.
» Originally scheduled for the Royal Oaks Country Club in Dallas, the event was moved to Maridoe Golf Club after Royal Oaks was deemed unplayable following torrential rains and course flooding over the last few weeks.
» Freshman Ben Dunne returns to his home state of Texas. Hailing from Cedar Park, Dunne lives three hours south of the Maridoe Golf Club. It will be his second start in four fall events.
» U-M will make its fifth straight appearance in Baylor's event. Last year, Nick Carlson's third-place finish guided the Maize and Blue to a fifth-place finish.

THIS WEEK
Mon-Tue., Oct. 22-23 -- 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 Carrollton, Texas, for Baylor's Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, Monday and Tuesday (Oct. 22-23). A 12-team field will play 54-holes over the two-day event held at the Maridoe Golf 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 70 and 7,008 yards.

Venue Change: Royal Oaks Intercollegiate

Originally scheduled to be played at the Royal Oaks Country Club in Dallas, Texas, torrential rains and flooding over the past few weeks made the course unplayable. Before cancelling the tournament, Baylor was able to move the event to Carrollton and the Maridoe Golf Club, roughly 15 minutes northwest of Dallas.

The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate Field

There will be 14 teams in the field at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, including Arkansas, Baylor, Houston, Iowa, Kent State, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina State, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Pepperdine, SMU, 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 Nick Carlson, junior Brent Ito, sophomore Charlie Pilon, sophomore Henry Spring and freshman Ben Dunne.

The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate Schedule

Saturday, Oct. 21 -- Travel Day
Sunday, Oct. 21 -- Practice Round, 2 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), 8:30 a.m. CDT (staggered shotgun)

The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate Format

The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate has always played in unique scoring formats. After playing as 6-count-5 format for a few years, including last year. The 2018 event will be played as teams in a 5-count-4 format, however, all five U-M starters will be playing the same hole together.

The Last Four Years at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate

Last season, Nick Carlson (67-69-71/207, -6) tied for third to lead U-M to a fifth-place finish at Baylor's 2017 event with an 856 54-hole total. In 2016, U-M rallied in the final round to finish third with a 1,069 total, playing in the unique 6-count-5 format. Kyle Mueller (T6th; 209, -4) and Nick Carlson (T9th; 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. In 2014, Mueller led the Wolverines, tying for 24th as U-M was 10th with a 1,124 total, once again playing in a 6-count-5 format. [ Recaps: 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 ]

Wolverine Bites

• Michigan will close its fall season for the fifth straight year at Baylor's Royal Oaks Intercollegiate. It will mark the fourth fall event in the first six weeks of the school year for the Maize and Blue. Opening the season with a tie for seventh at the Northern Intercollegiate (Sept. 15-16), U-M rallied for a fifth-place finish at Northwestern's Windon Memorial Classic (Sept. 23-24) -- the eighth top-five finish in 11 appearances. Using a career-low performance from Brent Ito, the Wolverines posted an eighth-place finish at the Fighting Irish Classic (Oct. 7-8).

• Brent Ito recorded the second-lowest round in program history with his 64 (-7) in the final round of the Fighting Irish Classic. Ito used seven birdies and 11 pars to record his career-best round and lower it by three shots. It is the fifth time a 64 has been recorded by a Wolverine golfer and was a single shot away from the U-M record 63 (-7) from former All-American Kyle Mueller (2015-18).

U-M Record Rounds

63 (-7), second, Kyle Mueller 2017 Jerry Pate Intercollegiate (Oct. 9-10)
64 (-7), third, Brent Ito 2018 Fighting Irish Classic (Oct. 7-8)
64 (-7), second, Kyle Mueller 2015 Alister MacKenzie Invite (Oct. 12-13)
64 (-8), second, Bill Rankin 2008 Bridgestone Intercollegiate
64 (-7), second, Christian Vozza 2005 Alister MacKenzie Invite (Oct. 10-11)
64 (-7), second, Michael Harris 1998 Northern Intercollegiate (Sept. 18-19)

• With his final-round 64 (-7) at the Fighting Irish Classic, Brent Ito went on to record a career-best 207 (-6) 54-hole tournament total as well as his first career top-20 finish -- tying for 15th. In addition to Ito's career-lows at the Warren Golf Course, Nick Carlson tied his career-low with a 67 (-4) in the final round as did Charlie Pilon, who posted a career-low 65 (-6) in the final round. Pilon's tally also led to a career-low 211 (-2) 54-hole tournament total.

• Using the career-low final rounds by Brent Ito (64, -7), Charlie Pilon (65, -6) and Nick Carlson (67, -4) in the final round of the Fighting Irish Classic, Michigan set a new career-low for a team single-round tally with a 267 (-17). The amazing total lowered the previous best score by three shots -- 270 (-14), totaled in the final round of the 2016 Inverness Intercollegiate (Sept. 19-20) -- paced by a Carlson 67 (-4).

• Nick Carlson is leading the Wolverines with a 71.56 scoring average this fall. He has posted five of his nine rounds below par including a career-low-tying 67 (-4) in the final round of the Fighting Irish Classic -- the fourth time in his career. Charlie Pilon is second with a 72.22 per-round pace, while classmate Henry Spring is third at 72.56.

• Nick Carlson is expected to start his 38th career event at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate. The rest of the Wolverines starting five has 34 combined starts -- Charlie Pilon (12), Brent Ito (11), Henry Spring (10) and Ben Dunne (1).

Inside the Maize and Blue

• Michigan made its fifth straight NCAA regional appearance in 2017-18, as Kyle Mueller won the Columbus Regional and made his second career NCAA Finals appearance. During the five-year stretch, U-M has three team appearances (2017 Washington, 2016 Vanderbilt and 2015 Washington) and two individual appearances (2018 Mueller and 2014 Chris O'Neill).

• U-M has 41 NCAA postseason appearances with 13 regional stops since the format changed to regional play in 1989. The Wolverines have participated as a team in six Central Regionals (1995, 1997, 2000, 2008, 2010, 2011), two Washington Regionals (2015, 2017), the Southwest Regional (2009) and the Franklin Regional (2016). The Wolverines add three regional invitations in 2012 (Matt Thompson), 2014 (Chris O'Neill) and 2018 (Kyle Mueller). U-M has made 23 NCAA team final appearances, winning back-to-back national titles in 1934 and 1935. The Wolverines also have had 11 individuals advance to the NCAA Finals, with the last by Mueller in 2018.

Up Next

Fri-Sat., Feb. 8-9 -- Big Ten Match Play Championships (Palm Coast, Fla.)
Sat-Sun., Feb. 16-17 -- Gator Invitational (Gainesville, Fla.)