Against some of the nation's best competition, the Michigan men’s golf team couldn't duplicate the success it had two weeks ago against conference opponents.

At the three-day, 54-hole Puerto Rico Classic at the Rio Mar Country Club this weekend, the Wolverines finished tied for ninth in the 15-team field. Seven of the nation's top 15 teams participated, and Golfweek ranked ten of the programs in its top 50—including No. 36 Michigan.

At the Big Ten Match Play Championship on Feb. 14, the Wolverines finished second out of 11 teams. Michigan coach Andrew Sapp felt that, because this tournament had a much stronger field than the conference championships, his players had a good chance to show they could compete with the country's elite.

“It was an opportunity that we kind of lost," Sapp said. "We were trying to knock off some of those good southern teams who were at this tournament as well, and unfortunately, we didn’t do that.”

Sophomore Lion Kim posted the best three-round score (215) for the Wolverines and finished tied for 21st. Despite solid ball-striking, Kim wasn't satisfied with his play or the team’s overall performance.

“As a team, preparation-wise, we were down in Puerto Rico for about a week,” Kim said. “So we sort of had the advantage really of knowing the conditions. But we didn’t take advantage of that, so that was really disappointing.”

Michigan finished with a three-round total of 877, 51 shots behind tournament winner and No. 2 Georgia.

Sapp mentioned that the southern teams can practice outside every day, a luxury the Wolverines do not have in Ann Arbor. All eight teams that placed ahead of Michigan are located below the Mason-Dixon Line, including Georgia and No. 8 Clemson, who finished second.

The Wolverines will have another shot to prove themselves against southern competition. In two weeks, at the three-day Pinehurst Invitational in Pinehurst, N.C., Sapp thinks that putting will be crucial in the upcoming event.

“I just think we need to get some good practice in to get our confidence back,” Sapp said. “The golf course we’re going to play at Pinehurst is dramatically different from the one that we played this week. The green speeds are going to be a lot faster.”

Kim echoed a similar sentiment about the importance of putting, and said he hopes to focus on that part of his game.

“I drove the ball well, struck the ball, and I’m hitting a lot of greens and hitting a lot of fairways," he said. “I’m just not making enough putts, and putting is the most important (part of) golf.”

While Michigan found success within its conference, putting could be the difference between succeeding and failing on the national level.