The Michigan men’s golf team competed in its second match of the season Sunday and Monday, finishing in fifth place at the Windon Memorial Classic at Knollwood Club.
After Sunday’s match, the Wolverines ranked 10th out of 16 teams, closely tailing UC Davis and South Florida by one stroke.
Monday proved to be a different story as Michigan moved up five positions to finish fifth with a total of 871 strokes.
Senior Nick Carlson contributed greatly to the team’s upward climb, tying for sixth place and shooting four-under for a combined score of 212 (69-75-68, -4).
“Nick (Carlson) had a good round,” said Michigan coach Chris Whitten. “He really helped our team shoot on par. He had a very good first round and final round.”
Other team members carried their weight, as well. Sophomore Charlie Pilon shot a 73 in three consecutive rounds and tied for 24th place with 221 strokes (77,71,73). In addition, sophomore Henry Spring bounced back during the second round with a 71 (-1) after shooting a 77 in the opening round.
“All the guys were very close in score,” Whitten said. “One good or bad decision can make your round, so you have to hold it together.”
Though the Wolverines made few technical changes after the match on Sunday, Monday’s improvement could be attributed to the players comfort with the golf course.
“Today was the fourth time we played the course,” Whitten said. “The round felt very similar to the course we played on (Sunday). We had a couple more pucks go in for us, especially at the end of the round.”
Whitten commended his golfers for their Monday performance, but still believes changes need to be made before Michigan’s match against Notre Dame in two weeks.
“The way we hit the ball was really good,” Whitten said. “The guys were focused nicely. If I could improve anything from the meet, I would like to improve on some of our pretty big shots. We made too many mistakes with the easy shots.”