Wolverines Look to Defend Virtue Intercollegiate Titles

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's golf team closes its five-tournament September slate heading to Nashport, Ohio, Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 28-29) as the Wolverines look to defend their team and individual titles from a year ago at the Virtues Intercollegiate. The two-day, 54-hole event is scheduled to be played at the Virtues Golf Club and will be set up for a par 72 and 7,243 yards.

Notes

• The Virtues Intercollegiate will be made up of 14 teams, including: Belmont, Bowling Green (host), Butler, Dayton, Eastern Michigan, James Madison, Longwood, Marshall, Michigan, Ohio, Robert Morris, St. Bonaventure, Wright State, Youngstown State. Kent State, Ohio and Notre Dame will be sending individuals to the event.

• With two days of play scheduled (36-18), Saturday's play opens with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start. After re-shuffling teams by score, Sunday's final round is also scheduled for an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start.

• U-M will travel five starters and three individuals to the Virtues Golf Club. Seniors Hunter Thomson and Yuqi Liu combine with freshmen RJ Arone and Dean Muratore and fifth-year senior Jack O'Donnell as the Maize and Blue's starting five. Fifth-year senior Ben Hoagland, redshirt-freshman Caden Pinckes and freshman Johnny Solis will compete as individuals.

• With three straight team tallies at minus-10 or better, Michigan used a season-low 830 (-34) total to post a 23-shot victory and earn its second team title of the 2023 Virtues Intercollegiate. U-M's 830 (-34) total marked the second lowest 54-hole team total in program history. It trailed U-M's record of 824 (-28) recorded at the 2014 MacKenzie.

• With 207 (-9) tallies by Hoagland and Liu, they joined Ohio's Will Kates as tri-medalists in 2023. It marked the first individual titles for Hoagland and Liu. Overall, U-M finished with four Wolverines among the top eight after Thomson tied for fourth (208, -8) and former Wolverine Will Anderson was eighth (209, -7).

• Thomson continues to pace the Wolverines with his 70.25 scoring average. He had fired six of his 12 rounds under par with a season-best 66 (-6) in back-to-back rounds in his win at the Canadian Collegiate Invitational (Sept. 16-17). He has led U-M in all four events this season, extending his streak to the last seven. Overall, he had led the Wolverines in 27 of his 40 career events.

• With a 202 (-14) total, Thomson led from start to finish and earned his second career medalist honor while guiding U-M to a season best runner-up finish at the Canadian Collegiate Invitational. In addition to his second career win, the victory earned Thomson an exemption to play in the 2025 RBC Canadian Open (June 3-5) at the TPC of Toronto.

• Arone has been the only Wolverine other than Thomson to start all four events this season. So far, he is carrying a 73.25 scoring average, posting a pair of top-20 finishes. Classmate Muratore has started three of his four events and is right behind Arone with a 73.83 scoring average.

• The Virtues Golf Club is a parkland-style course was designed by renowned golf course architect Arthur Hills to blend seamlessly with its pristine natural surroundings, just 40 miles from downtown Columbus, Ohio. The course wanders gracefully from ridge top to valley, featuring wide rolling fairways and immaculate greens framed by stately stands of mature trees, with panoramic views around every rugged bend.