Bill Rankin gained substantial bragging rights this weekend.
The junior shot eight-under par to finish first at The Maxwell Tournament in Ardmore, Okla. this weekend. Senior Tim Schaetzel also tied for fourth at the end of the two-day tournament.
But the Michigan men’s golf team didn’t leave the tournament with the same bragging rights. The team was in first of 10 teams after 36 holes Saturday. But a poor start Sunday sent the Wolverines to second place. At the end of the last round, they finished three strokes points behind first-place Oklahoma State.
Both Rankin and Michigan coach Andrew Sapp cited Sunday’s sluggish start as the Wolverines’ downfall.
“We got off to a poor start,” Rankin said. “Once we got going we fought our way back. At the end we missed probably nine putts but we really only needed to make three of those to tie Oklahoma State. We just didn’t get the job done coming into the stretch and we were out-played.”
Despite the second-place team total, Sapp was impressed with this weekend’s individual performances.
“The two obvious positives we can take out of this event are Bill Rankin winning the individual event and Tim Schaetzel tied for fourth,” Sapp said. “Now we just need to get the other guys working together and playing a little bit better heading into regionals, and we should be in good shape.”
Heading into next weekend’s NCAA Central Regional, this was a useful and unique tournament for the Wolverines. With their ticket to the regional already punched, this tournament prepared the golfers for next weekend. Michigan will see four of the 10 teams it played this weekend again next weekend, including No. 5 Oklahoma State.
The team also had the opportunity to experience a different style of play this weekend. All five of the Wolverines played each hole at the same time instead of the traditional format of playing in groups with golfers from other schools.
“This was the first time we’ve really ever played together in a tournament,” Rankin said. “It was fun because you could feel everyone coming together at the end of each round by supporting each other and trying to help each other out.”
This format also spawned a friendly competition between Rankin and Schaetzel. Coming into this weekend, Schaetzel had the edge over Rankin – his golf bag had one more under-par round sticker than Rankin’s. After a weekend of unwavering competition with each other, Rankin emerged a sticker ahead of Schaetzel, resulting in some inevitable bragging rights and more fuel for next weekend’s regional.