Escaping the return of winter to Ann Arbor, the Michigan
men’s golf team traveled to Myrtle Beach, S.C., to compete in
the General Jim Hackler Intercollegiate Tournament over the past
two days.
The Wolverines finished with a team score of 920 for the 54-hole
tournament, placing 14th out of 19 teams. Pepperdine won the team
title with a 870 total.
Michigan coach Andrew Sapp was not pleased with his team’s
311 first- round score on Monday. The team’s poor play in the
round especially upset the coach.
“We were one of only three or four teams to have everyone
break 80,” Sapp said. “But our guys were just a few
shots away from having great rounds.”
Even though the Wolverines improved their score in the second
round by just one stroke, Sapp was happy with his team’s
overall performance. The wind began to affect shots, and Sapp said
that a “310 in those conditions was much better than 311 in
the first round.”
The second round was suspended due to darkness with three holes
left to play and was finished yesterday before the third round.
“We got off to a good start, shooting par or one-under on
those holes, and it helped us in the final round,” Sapp
said.
Michigan’s 299 total in the third round was its best score
of the spring season and helped the team move up four places in the
tournament.
“It was good to see our guys fight and play well the last
round and move up the leader board a couple spots,” Sapp
said.
Freshman Kevin Dore led the Wolverines with a 225 total and
finished in a tie for 29th place overall. In his second tournament
of the season, senior Rob Tighe carded a total of 229 to finish
second on the team and tied for 44th overall.
“I was pleased to see Rob play so well,” Sapp said.
“I think that bodes well for him to improve in the future,
once he gets a little more rust off of his game.”
Freshman Matt McLaughlin and sophomore Christian Vozza each
struggled in the second round, carding scores of 82 and 87,
respectively.
Sophomore Brandon Duff was the most consistent performer for the
Wolverines, shooting rounds of 78, 78 and 77. But, Sapp believed
“each round could have been 74 or even better.”
According to the coach, consistency and putting were the biggest
problems for Michigan in this tournament. And a few triple bogeys
didn’t help the cause.
“When you have big numbers on holes, it doesn’t
matter how many birdies you get, it’s going to hurt your
score,” Sapp said. “We don’t want to give away
shots.”
The Wolverines will have a chance to improve their consistency
when they return to South Carolina on March 26 to compete in the
Furman Intercollegiate.