Michigan
Boilermaker Invitational
This Week in Michigan Men's Golf: Boilermaker Invitational
4/11/2019 3:25:00 PM | Men's Golf
» Michigan closes its regular season heading to West Lafayette, Indiana, for Purdue's Boilermaker Invitational.
» After a rain-shortened eighth-place finish last year, U-M plays its third straight regular-season closing event at the Kampen Course and makes its seventh overall trip to the Boilermaker.
» Last weekend, the Wolverines' trip to the Aggie Invitational was canceled due to weather and thunderstorms.
» Nick Carlson continues to lead U-M in scoring average with a 73.33 per round average.
THIS WEEK
Sat-Sun., April 13-14 -- at Boilermaker Invitational (West Lafayette, Ind.)
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Next on the Tee: The Boilermaker Invitational
Closing its regular-season schedule, the University of Michigan men's golf team heads to West Lafayette, Indiana, for Purdue's Boilermaker Invitational, Saturday and Sunday (April 13-14). The two-day, 54-hole event will feature a 15-team field and will be played on the Kampen Course at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex. The course will be set up for a par 72 with 7,465 yards.
The Boilermaker Invitational Field
There will be 15 teams competing at the Boilermaker Invitational, including Ball State, Cincinnati, Illinois State, Indiana, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Purdue, Santa Clara, Southern Illinois and Wisconsin.
The Aggie Invitational Schedule
Thursday, April 11 -- Travel Day
Friday, April 12 -- Practice Round (18) tee times starting at 9 a.m.
Saturday, April 13 -- First Round (18) begins with a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m.
Saturday, April 13 -- Second Round (18) continuous play after completion of first round
Sunday, April 14 -- Final Round (18) begins with tee times at 8:30 a.m.
The Michigan Lineup at the Boilermaker Invitational
The Wolverines will travel five starters to the Boilermaker Invitational, but U-M will hold qualifying right up until Friday's travel day. Vying for spots will be fifth-year senior Ian Martin, senior Nick Carlson, juniors Brent Ito and Taisei Negishi, sophomores Charlie Pilon and Henry Spring and freshmen Ben Dunne and Patrick Sullivan.
History at the Boilermaker Invitational
• Michigan will make its seventh trip to the Boilermaker Invitational and the Kampen Course. This year's visit will mark the third straight year U-M heads to Purdue's event to close the regular season. Last year's final round was canceled due to rains as Kyle Mueller earned runner-up honors and U-M finished eighth.
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)
2018: 8th (294-293/587) - final round cancelled due to rain
Wolverine Bites
• Last weekend's Aggie Invitational (April 6-7) was canceled as rain and thunderstorms halted play on the first day and threatened play on Sunday's final round causing the event to be called off. There are no plans to replace the event before the postseason begins on April 26th at the Big Ten Championships.
• Michigan head coach Chris Whitten announced he will be stepping away from his duties at the conclusion of the 2018-19 season to become the executive director of the Golf Association of Michigan starting in May. An immediate search for his replacement will begin at season's end. U-M Release | GAM Release
• Nick Carlson is expected to start his 43rd career event at the Boilermaker Invitational. The rest of the Wolverines expected starter's combines for 51 total starts -- Charlie Pilon (17), Brent Ito (15), Henry Spring (13) and Ben Dunne (six).
• Nick Carlson continues to lead the Wolverines in scoring with his 73.33 per round average. He leads U-M with seven sub-par round including a career-low-tying 67 (-4) in the final round of the Fighting Irish Classic -- the fourth time in his career. After Carlson, Henry Spring is second at 73.61, while Charlie Pilon is third at 74.05 followed by Brent Ito's 74.10.
• Freshman Ben Dunne has turned up his play in his second semester of play, leading U-M in the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate (T28th; career-low) on March 9-10. He posted back-to-back career-low 54-hole totals of 223 at the Gator Invitational (Feb. 16-17) and then the Desert Mountain. He also has shot a career-low 73 four times over his last seven rounds, averaging 75.22 per round. During the first semester, he started two events and averaged 81.0 per round.
• After missing several months with an ankle injury, Patrick Sullivan returned to the lineup at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate. With a 225 tally, he tied for 37th. After opening with a 77 and 78, he found his rhythm posting a career-low 70 (-2) in the final round. Sullivan is averaging 75.93 per round in his first season starting the five events he has participated in.
• U-M is averaging 294.38 per round as a team. So far this season the Wolverines have improved as each event goes on, having averaged 299.29 in opening rounds. The Maize and Blue improves by four shots in the second round -- 295.71 -- and has closed seven shots lower than the second round with a near even-par average of 288.14.
• 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 team single-round tally of 267 (-17). The score lowered the previous best tally by three shots -- 270 (-14) totaled in the final round of the 2016 Inverness Intercollegiate (Sept. 20) -- which was paced by a Carlson 67 (-4).
• Brent Ito recorded the second-lowest round in program history with his 64 (-7) in the final round of the Fighting Irish Classic (Oct. 8). 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 off 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 (Oct. 27-28)
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.
• After spending his first three years on U-M's Club Team, fifth-year senior Ian Martin went undefeated at the Big Ten Match Play (Feb. 8-9) with a 3-0-1 record in his first varsity event. In his first stroke-play event, he got off to a slow start, but rallied in the final round shooting a career-best 69 (-1) -- the Wolverines' ninth sub-70 round of the season. He has started two of his three events and averaged 76.17 per round.
Up Next
Fri-Sun., April 26-28 -- at Big Ten Championships (Flourtown, Pa.)
Players Mentioned
