This Week in Michigan Men's Golf: Fighting Irish Classic

THIS WEEK
Mon-Tue., Oct. 7-8 -- Fighting Irish Classic (South Bend, Ind.)
Live Scoring | Warren Golf Course

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Next on the Tee: Fighting Irish Classic

The University of Michigan men's golf team will continue its fall schedule when it heads to South Bend, Indiana, for Notre Dame's Fighting Irish Classic, Monday and Tuesday (Oct. 7-8), at the Warren Golf Course. The 14-team field will play 54 holes over the two days with 36 holes on Monday and a final 18 on Tuesday. The course will be set up for a par 71 and 7,020 yards.

The Fighting Irish Classic Field

There will be 14 teams in the field at the Fighting Irish Classic, including Arizona State, Boston College, Georgia Southern, Iowa, Iowa State, Kent State, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Toledo and UMKC.

The Fighting Irish Classic Lineup

Michigan will bring a five-member starting squad and one invited individual to the Fighting Irish Classic.
• Senior Brent Ito (18th career start)
• Junior Charlie Pilon (22nd career start)
• Junior Henry Spring (18th career start)
• Sophomore Ben Dunne (11th career start)
• Freshman Pier Francesco De Col (first collegiate event and start)

The Fighting Irish Classic Schedule

Saturday, Oct. 5 -- Travel Day
Sunday, Oct. 6 -- Practice Round (18), 12:30 p.m. (shotgun)
Monday, Oct. 7 -- First Round (18), 8:30 a.m. (shotgun); Second Round (18), continuous play following completion of first round
Tuesday, Oct. 8 -- Final Round (18), 8 a.m. (tee times off No. 1 and 10)

The Fighting Irish Classic History

• Last year, Michigan posted an eighth-place finish at Notre Dame's event with an 845 (-7) tally. [ Recap ]
• Brent Ito had a career event in 2018 as he finished 16th with a career-low 207 (-6) total. After an opening 75, he posted a 68 (-3) in the second round. With a bogey-free, seven-birdie final round, Ito fired a 64 (-7) to tie U-M's second-lowest round in program history.

Wolverine Bites

• So far, senior Brent Ito has led the U-M charge into the fall season leading the Wolverines in both fall events with top-12 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. Ito's 71.33 scoring average is more than two strokes better than the next Wolverine.

• Pier Francesco De Col will make his collegiate debut at the Fighting Irish Classic. Coming to Ann Arbor from Italy, he will become the second freshman to earn some tournament experience after classmate Kevin Healy competed as an individual in the first two fall events.

• So far this season Brent Ito has posted four of his six total fall rounds at par or under. He posted 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. His other was a 207 (-6) at the 2018 Fighting Irish Classic.

• Starting both events this fall, Ben Dunne tied his career-low 72 (+1) in the first round of the Inverness Intercollegiate, which propelled him to a career-best 222 54-hole tournament total. His 75.67 scoring average is just under a stroke and a half better than his freshman year (77.05).

• For the third straight season Henry Spring has tied his career-low of 69. In the final round of the Inverness Intercollegiate, he recorded five birdies to post a 69 (-2). Last year, he posted a second career 69 (-3) in the final round of the 2019 Tar Heel Intercollegiate. As a freshman he recorded his first 69 (-1) in the second round of the 2018 Big Ten Championships.

• Michigan welcomes in a new head coach, Zach Barlow, who spent the last five seasons at Illinois. Over that span, Barlow helped Mike Small guide Illinois to five consecutive Big Ten titles, win three NCAA regional championships and advance to five consecutive NCAA finals, and made it to the match play semifinal three times. [ Release ]

• In addition to the hiring of Barlow, the Wolverines added his 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 ]

Up Next

• Mon-Tue., Oct. 14-15 -- Crooked Stick Invitational (Carmel, Ind.)
• Mon-Tue., Oct. 21-22 -- Royal Oaks Intercollegiate (Dallas, Texas)