This Week in Michigan Men's Golf: Boilermaker Invitational

THIS WEEK
• Sat-Sun., April 14-15 -- Boilermaker Invitational (West Lafayette, Ind.)
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• Honors & Awards: 2017-18 | Scholar Story: Kyle Mueller

Next on the Tee: The Boilermaker Invitational
The University of Michigan men's golf team closes its regular season as it heads to West Lafayette, Indiana, on Saturday and Sunday (April 14-15) for Purdue's Boilermaker Invitational. The two-day, 54-hole event held on the Kampen Course will feature a 17-team field. The course will be set up for a par 72 with 7,465 yards.

The Boilermaker Invitational Field
There will be 17 teams competing at the Boilermaker Invitational, including -- Central Florida, Cincinnati, Indiana, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, Southern Illinois, Toledo, UT Arlington, Western Kentucky, Wichita State, Wisconsin and Xavier.

The Boilermaker Invitational Schedule
Thursday, April 12 -- Travel Day
Friday, April 13 -- Practice Round (18), 10 a.m.
Saturday, April 14 -- First Round (18) begins with a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m.
Saturday, April 14 -- Second Round (18) continuous play following completion for first round
Sunday, April 15 -- Final Round (18) begins with a tee times starting at 8:30 a.m.

The Michigan Lineup at the Boilermaker Invitational
The Wolverines will travel five starters to the Boilermaker Invitational. The starting five will include senior Kyle Mueller, freshman Charlie Pilon, freshman Henry Spring, sophomore Brent Ito and junior Nick Carlson. Sophomore Taisei Negishi will travel and play as an invited individual.

History at the Boilermaker Invitational
• After playing in 14 Puerto Rico Classics, which is hosted by Purdue, Michigan changed its schedule to make its return to the Boilermaker Invitational for the second straight year. It is the first for the Wolverines since 2004.

U-M at Kampen Course
2004: 14th (301-297-303/901)
2005: 10th (306-296-298/900)
2006: 8th (308-308-300/916)
2007: 5th (315-293/608)
2017: T-11th (303-314-291/908)

WOLVERINE BITES

• Saying Kyle Mueller's final season has continued to be special would be an understatement. After leading U-M in seven of the nine events with seven sub-par performances, he is averaging 69.78 per round average. In fact, 18 of his 23 rounds have been under-par with nine sub-70 rounds -- including a U-M record 63 (-7) carded in the second round of the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate. Mueller has recorded 59 sub-par scores in 122 rounds.

• Kyle Mueller stayed among the top 20 in the GolfWeek individual rankings (April 9) for collegiate golfers. He is ranked eighth in the country with a 73.03 rating. Mueller is the top rated Big Ten player and one of just two in the top 50 -- Illinois' Nick Hardy (No. 27). [ Rankings ]

• Earlier in the spring, Kyle Mueller was named the recipient of the David Toms Overcoming Adversity Award. He now is on the watch lists for two of college golf's top awards -- the 2018 Byron Nelson Award presented by Srixon Golf & Cleveland Golf as well as the 2018 Haskins Award. [ David Toms Award ]

• With his expected start in the Boilermaker Invitational, Kyle Mueller will have started 48 straight tournaments -- not missing an event in his career. He played in 13 events as a freshman, 11 as a sophomore and 13 as a junior. After missing his first career event due to a shoulder injury, Nick Carlson snapped his 32 consecutive events streak. He is expected to return to the lineup in West Lafayette.

• Kyle Mueller, who has eight straight top-12 finishes, won back-to-back events after tying for the victory at the Desert Mountain with a 212 (-4) tally, while he rallied in the final round of the Southwestern Jones Invitational with a 208 (-8) total. The pair of trophies marked his fourth and fifth career wins, as he is one away from tying Michael Harris' U-M record of six.

• Kyle Mueller and Charlie Pilon shared medalist honors at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate. It was the fifth career win, and back-to-back victories, for Mueller, while Pilon claimed the first of his career. The Wolverine duo both tallied 212 (-4) as Mueller bookended rounds of 71 (+1) around a 70 (-2), while Pilon opened with a career-best 69 (-3) followed with rounds of 73 and 70 (-2). With the pair of top finishing players, U-M tied for second overall at its spring event.

• Adding to his list of records at Michigan, Kyle 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 which saw a final-round 10-foot birdie putt for the record.

U-M's Top-Five 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)

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

• Despite battling a right shoulder injury most of the season, Nick Carlson continues to be a force for the Wolverines. He is averaging 72.72 strokes per round -- second on U-M -- and has started eight events. He posted a career-best 36 hole tournament total (138) at the Inverness Intercollegiate and added a new career-low for a 54-hole event with a 207 (-6) at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, where he posted a season-best tie for third individual finish.

• The Down Under Duo of Charlie Pilon and Henry Spring have continued to gain experience in their first year with the Wolverines. Pilon has started seven of eight events, and is third on the Wolverines with a 74.55 per-round average. He won his first collegiate event tying with teammate Kyle Mueller at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate. Spring has started five of his seven events and sports a 76.12 average. He has two top-35 finishes with a season-high tie for 30th at the Northern 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, tied for eighth 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 from 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 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-Sun., April 27-29 -- Big Ten Championships (Baltimore, Md.)