This Week in Michigan Men's Golf: Robert Kepler Intercollegiate

» Michigan heads to Columbus, Ohio for the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate at the Columbus Country Club.
» A total of eight of the 13 Big Ten teams will compete in the Buckeye's spring event.
» The Kepler Intercollegiate is the Wolverines regular season finale.
» Will Anderson (72.75) and Hunter Thomson (72.85) continue to battle for U-M's scoring lead.

THIS WEEK
Sat-Sun., April 23-24 -- at Robert Kepler Intercollegiate (Columbus, Ohio)
Live Scoring | Columbus Country Club

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Next on the Tee: Robert Kepler Intercollegiate

The University of Michigan men's golf team will close its regular season by heading to Columbus, Ohio, Saturday and Sunday (April 23-24) for the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate. The two-day, 54-hole tournament will be played at the Columbus Country Club. Featuring a 13-team field, eight teams will be from the Big Ten. Scoring will be five players, counting the four lowest scores, with teams bringing an invited individual. The course is scheduled to be set up as a par 72 at 7,077 yards.

The Robert Kepler Intercollegiate Field

There will be 13 teams competing at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate, including: Ball State, Illinois, Indiana, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Michigan State, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers and Toledo.

The Robert Kepler Intercollegiate Schedule

Thursday, April 21 -- Travel Day
Friday, April 22 -- Practice Round (18), 10:30 a.m. CT (tee time)
Saturday, April 23 -- First Round (18), 7:30 a.m. (tee times off Nos. 1 and 10)
Saturday, April 23 -- Second Round (18), (continuous play after completion of first round)
Sunday, April 24 -- Final Round (18), 7:30 a.m. (tee times off Nos. 1 and 10)

The Robert Kepler Intercollegiate Lineup

Michigan will travel a five-member starting group to the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate. Freshmen Hunter Thomson and Bavake Sihota head up the Maize and Blue squad, while graduate student Brendan O'Reilly, sophomore Will Anderson and freshman Yuqi Liu round out the starting five. Sophomore Jude Kim will travel and play as an individual.

Last Year at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate

Michigan closed with a 297 final team total to post an 895 54-hole total and finish 13th at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate played on Ohio State's the Scarlet Course. Using a 71 (E) in the final round, Will Anderson led U-M tying for 18th at 218 (73-74-71) Patrick Sullivan posted a second top-25 finish, tying for 25th at 220 (72-74-74).

Wolverine Bites

• Hunter Thomson continues to shine in his first season in Ann Arbor. The only Wolverine to start all nine events this season, he is carrying a 72.85 per round average, which is just barely out of the team lead (Will Anderson, 72.75). Additionally, he is just ahead of the U-M freshman scoring mark held by U-M great Kyle Mueller (72.86; 2014-15). He leads U-M with 10 sub-par rounds, with a U-M season-low and career-low 66 (-4) fired in the second round of the Macdonald Cup. He adds a team-best five sub-par 54-hole totals, including a career-low 207 (71-66-70, -3) at the Macdonald Cup.

• U-M has four top-five finishes this season including a rally to tie for the team titles at the Desert Mountain Collegiate. The Wolverines opened the season with a third-place showing at the Island Resort Intercollegiate and followed with a runner-up finish at the Macdonald Cup, where Will Anderson won his first collegiate event. The Maize and Blue add a tie for fifth at the Rich Harvest Farms Intercollegiate after tallying a season-best 857 (-7) team total.

• Leading U-M in three events, Will Anderson has finished as the top Wolverine in seven of his 14 career tournaments. He leads the team with a 72.75 scoring average as he has eight sub-par rounds, that includes a career-low 66 (-4) at the Macdonald Cup (first round). He leads U-M with a 218.25 54-hole average.

• The U-M duo of Hunter Thomson and Will Anderson have combined to lead U-M in seven of nine regular-season events. Thomson leads with four, while Anderson is second with three. The two are battling for the scoring lead with Anderson ahead 72.75 to 72.85. Thomson's five sub-par 54-hole totals in one ahead of Anderson's four. Additionally, Thomson's 10 sub-par rounds are two ahead of Anderson. Both have shot the season's lowest round with a 66 (-4) at the Macdonald Cup -- Anderson (first) and Thomson (second).

• In addition to their parallel stats, the U-M duo of Hunter Thomson and Will Anderson have earned the first Big Ten's Golfer of the Week honors in two years. After winning his first collegiate title, Anderson earned his on Sept. 29. Carding a career-low 204 (-6), Anderson led from start to finish to win Yale's Macdonald Cup. With his fifth sub-par 54-hole total (211, -5), Thomson earned his on April 14, after finishing seventh at the Mossy Oak Collegiate -- his third top 10 finish of his rookie campaign. After posting four birdies in all three rounds and posted tallies of 70, 73 and 70 to lead the Maize and Blue.

• Leading U-M for the first time at the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate (t-21st), followed by tying for 11th at the Desert Mountain Collegiate, Brendan O'Reilly has continued his upward tick as the season winds down. In his last four events, he has posted two sub-par, two par and eight of 12 rounds of 73-or-better. He is now averaging 73.54 per round his season, which is third on the Wolverines.

Up Next

Fri-Sun., April 29-May 1 -- at Big Ten Championships (French Lick, Indiana)