This Week in Michigan Men's Golf: Big Ten Match Play Championships

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• Honors & Awards: 2017-18 | Scholar Stories: Kyle Mueller

This Week
Fri-Sat., Feb. 9-10 -- at Big Ten Match Play Championships (Palm Coast, Fla.)
Live Scoring | Big Ten Match Play History

Next on the Tee: Big Ten Match Play Championship
The University of Michigan men's golf team returns to competition following a three-and-a-half month hiatus as the Wolverines travel to Palm Coast, Florida, to compete in the 2018 Big Ten Match Play Championships, Friday and Saturday (Feb. 9-10). The two-day event will be held at the Hammock Beach Resort with all matches played on the Tom Watson-designed Conservatory Course. The event will be set up for a par-72 and 7,777 yards. Each team will have six members competing in each match. Big Ten Network will air a 90-minute BTN/BTN2Go recap of the event starting at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 3.

The B1G Match Play Championship Field
All 14 members of the conference will be competing in the Big Ten Match Play Championship. Seeding for the event will be No. 1 Illinois (12), No. 2 Penn State (39), No. 3 Northwestern (44), No. 4 Michigan State (48), No. 5 Purdue (52) No. 6 Minnesota (59), No. 7 Iowa (63), No. 8 Michigan (69), No. 9 Maryland (77), No. 10 Ohio State (84), No. 11 Wisconsin (92), No. 12 Indiana (103), No. 13 Rutgers (130) and No. 14 Nebraska (161) Seeding is based off the Nov. 21, 2017 final fall GolfStat rankings.

Teams will be divided into two divisions for match play -- East and West. Representing the West division will be Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Nebraska. Representing the East division will be Penn State, Michigan State, Michigan, Maryland, Ohio State, Indiana and Rutgers.

U-M's B1G Match Play Schedule
Thursday, Feb. 8 -- Practice Round, 8:00 a.m. (tee times)
Friday, Feb. 9 -- First Match: vs. No. 5 Ohio State, 8:00 a.m. (Conservatory)
Friday, Feb. 9 -- Second Match: vs. No. 3 Purdue, 1:30 p.m. (Ocean)
Saturday, Feb. 10 -- Third Match: vs. No. 4 Maryland, 8:00 a.m. (Ocean)
Saturday, Feb. 10 -- Final Match: TBD, 1:30 p.m. (TBD)

The Final Matches
After Michigan's three matches within its division, teams will be ranked 1 through 7, within their division. A tiebreaker procedure will be used to determine final rank. From there, teams will play a final match against the team that has the same ranking in the opposite division.

Championship Match: Team 1 East vs. Team 1 West
3rd and 4th place match: Team 2 East vs. Team 2 West
5th and 6th place match: Team 3 East vs. Team 3 West
7th and 8th place match: Team 4 East vs. Team 4 West
9th and 10th place match: Team 5 East vs. Team 5 West
11th and 12th place match: Team 6 East vs. Team 6 West
13th and 14th place match: Team 7 East vs. Team 7 West

The Michigan Lineup
With six players competing in each match, Michigan will rotate its lineup throughout the event with eight Wolverines traveling to compete at the 2018 Big Ten Match Play Championship. Traveling for U-M will be seniors Kyle Mueller and Ian Kim, junior Nick Carlson, sophomore Brent Ito and Taisei Negishi and freshmen Charlie Pilon, Connor Prassas and Henry Spring.

History at the B1G Match Play Championship
Michigan is 18-12 all-time at the Big Ten Match Play Championships. The Wolverines won the event in 2014 and had runner-up finishes in the inaugural event in 2009 and 2015.
2009: 2-1 (runner-up)
2010: 1-2 (sixth place)
2011: 2-1 (fifth place)
2012: 1-1 (no team place, as time did not permit conclusion of full match play event)
2013: 2-2 (seventh place)
2014: 4-0 (champions)
2015: 3-1 (runner-up)
2016: 2-2 (seventh place)
2017: 1-2 (seventh place)

The 2014 B1G Match Play Championship Run
Michigan won its first Big Ten Match Play Championship title at the Concession Golf Club (Feb. 14-15, 2014) in Bradenton, Florida. The Maize and Blue won all four of its weekend matchups during the two-day event and defeated the seventh-seeded Purdue Boilermakers in a sudden-death playoff to capture the Big Ten Match Play Championship trophy. Chris O'Neill (2013-16) led Michigan with a 3-1 record, while Brett McIntosh (2013-16) posted a 2-1-1 record and Noori Hyun (2012-15) had a team-best six birdies in 16 holes. [ Recap ]

Wolverine Match Play Records
Kyle Mueller: 10 (9-1)
Nick Carlson: 4 (1-2-1)
Ian Kim: 3 (0-2-1)
Taisei Negishi: 1 (0-1-0)
Brent Ito: none
Charlie Pilon: none
Connor Prassas: none
Henry Spring: none

Why Big Ten Match Play?
In conjunction with the NCAA's postseason format shift to determine the team national champion via the match play format, the Big Ten was the first conference to emulate that format to open each of the last nine spring seasons. The NCAA Finals begin with 54 holes of stroke play to determine the individual champion and to narrow the field to eight teams. Those eight advance and compete in match play to determine the team national champion.

WOLVERINE BITES

• Michigan posted three top five finishes in its four 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 five days later. After an 11th place showing at Alabama's Jerry Pate National, the Wolverines rebounded with a fifth-place finish at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate. As a team the Wolverines are averaging 286.18 strokes with four sub-par team totals, including a season-best 278 (-6) in the first round at Royal Oaks.

• With his expected start in the Big Ten Match Play Championships, Kyle Mueller will have started 42 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 28 consecutive events.

• Saying Mueller's final season has started off right would be an understatement. After leading U-M in three of the four fall events with four sub-par performances, he is averaging 69.18 per round average. In fact, eight of his 11 rounds have been under-par with six sub-70 rounds including a U-M record 63 (-7) carded in the second round of the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate. Mueller has recorded 49 sub-par scores in 110 rounds (44.5 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 Wolverine to shoot 63 (-7) snapping the record of 64 held by four Wolverines, including Mueller himself. 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 was led by Mueller and Carlson all four fall events. In the three seasons together, the Maize and Blue duo has finished as the top two in 12 of 28 events. So far this season, Mueller has led U-M in three events; Carlson added one. Mueller has four straight top-12 finishes after a third-place tie (135, -7) at the Inverness Intercollegiate, an eighth-place tie (212, -4) at the Northern Intercollegiate, a fifth-place finish (203, -7) at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate and a 12-place tie (211, -2) at the Royal Oaks.

• After Mueller and Carlson, the Wolverines are jam packed with five players averaging within a half-stroke of each other. Henry Spring leads the pack with a 74.13 average, while Brent Ito (74.22), Ian Kim (74.36), Charlie Pilon (74.75) and Connor Prassas (74.75) are just behind.

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 with an eighth-place tie, individually, and missed 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
• Mon-Tue., Feb. 26-27 -- Southwestern Jones Invitational (Westlake Village, Calif.)
• Sat-Sun., March 3-4 -- Host, Desert Mountain Intercollegiate (Scottsdale, Ariz.)