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

» Michigan will close its fall season Oct. 21-22 at Baylor's Royal Oaks Intercollegiate at Royal Oaks Country Club in Dallas, Texas.
» U-M will use the same lineup for the third consecutive tournament.
» Cedar Park native Ben Dunne will return to his home state of Texas to play in Baylor's event. Cedar Park is about three hours south of Dallas.
» Brent Ito continues to lead U-M in scoring with a 72.50 per round average. He has seven of his 12 fall rounds at or below par.

THIS WEEK
Mon-Tue., Oct. 21-22 -- Royal Oaks Intercollegiate (Dallas, Texas)
Live Scoring | Royal Oaks Country Club

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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 by heading south to Dallas, Texas, for Baylor's Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, Monday and Tuesday (Oct. 21-22). A 12-team field will play 54 holes over the two-day event at Royal Oaks Country Club. The field will open with 36 holes Monday and a final 18 on Tuesday. The course will be set up as a par 71 at 7,068 yards.

The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate Field

There will be 12 teams in the field at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, including Baylor, Charlotte, Iowa, Kansas State, Kent State, Liberty, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Texas, SMU and Texas-San Antonio.

The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate Lineup

Michigan will use the same lineup for the third straight event, taking a five-member starting squad to the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate.
• Senior Brent Ito (20th career start)
• Junior Charlie Pilon (24rd career start)
• Junior Henry Spring (20th career start)
• Sophomore Ben Dunne (13th career start)
• Freshman Pier Francesco De Col (Third career start)

The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate Schedule

Saturday, Oct. 19 -- Travel Day
Sunday, Oct. 20 -- Practice Round, 1:15 p.m. CDT (tee times)
Monday, Oct. 21 -- First Round (18), 8:15 a.m. CDT (shotgun)
Monday, Oct. 21 -- Second Round (18), continuous play after round one
Tuesday, Oct. 22 -- Final Round (18), 8:30 a.m. CDT (staggered shotgun)

The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate Format

The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate has always been played in unique scoring formats, using a 6-count-5 format for a few years before a shift last fall. For the second straight event, each team's five starters will play the same hole together in a 5-count-4 format.

The Last Five Years at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate

Last season, U-M posted a 14th-place team finish led by Brent Ito's tie for 37th individual placement. In 2017, Nick Carlson (67-69-71/207, -6) tied for third to lead U-M to a fifth-place finish. 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 (t-6th; 209, -4) and 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. 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 | 2018

Wolverine Bites

• Senior Brent Ito has led the Wolverines in three fall events with top-25 finishes. He began with his first career top-10 finish, tying for ninth at the Windon Memorial Classic (Sept. 16-17) with a 212 (-1) tally. He followed with a tie for 11th at the Inverness Intercollegiate (Sept. 23-24) with a 216 (+3) total. He then posted a 214 (+1) to tie for 23rd at the Fighting Irish Classic (Oct. 7-8). Ito's 72.50 scoring average is nearly a full stroke better than the next Wolverine.

• Ito has posted seven of his 12 total fall rounds at par or under this season. He has a team-best four sub-par rounds including a season-low 69 (-2) in the first round of the Windon Memorial. His 212 (-1) tally at the Windon marked his second career sub-par 54-hole total. He owns the top three 54-hole totals by a Wolverine this season and is averaging 217.50 per event.

• Pier Francesco De Col made his collegiate debut at the Fighting Irish Classic (Oct. 7-8) and posted a 228 tally. After an opening 77, he recorded a career-low even-par 71 in the second round. He will make his third straight start at Baylor's Royal Oaks Intercollegiate. He is averaging 76.50 per round.

• A starter in all four events this fall, Cedar Park native Ben Dunne will return to his home state of Texas to play in Baylor's event. Cedar Park is about three hours south of Dallas. Dunne tied his career-low 72 (+1) in the first round of the Inverness Intercollegiate (Sept. 23-24), which propelled him to a career-best 222 54-hole tournament total. His 75.58 scoring average is just under a stroke and a half better than his freshman year (77.05).

• Junior Charlie Pilon led the Wolverines for the first time this season and for the third time in his career with his tie for 21st at the Crooked Stick Invitational (Oct. 14-15). Along the way, he posted his second sub-par round of the fall with a second-round 71 (-1). Staying consistent, he is right on pace with his final scoring average from a year ago, shooting 73.42 per round this season after finishing with a 73.46 pace last season.

• For the third straight season Henry Spring has twice shot his career low of 69. First he closed his Inverness Intercollegiate with five birdies to post a 69 (-2). In the next event, he repeated the score but with seven birdies for a finishing 69 (-2) at the Fighting Irish Classic (Oct. 7-8). Spring has a 72.00 final-round average after marks of 76.75 (first round) and 76.50 (second round) to begin events. For the season he is averaging 75.08 per round.

• This season, Michigan welcomes new head coach Zach Barlow, who spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach at Illinois. Over that span, Barlow helped head coach Mike Small guide Illinois to five consecutive Big Ten titles, win three NCAA regional championships, and advance to five consecutive NCAA finals and three match-play semifinal appearances. » Release

• Barlow hired college teammate Matt Hoffman as his assistant coach. After a six-year professional career, Hoffman spent the last two years as an assistant coach with one of Canada's most prestigious golf programs at Humber College (2017-19) in Toronto. In his two seasons, the Hawks won back-to-back Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) championships and were second in the 2019 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championships after a third-place finish in 2018. » Release