Michigan State University
Inverness Intercollegiate
Men's Golf Sits In Fourth At Inverness Intercollegiate
9/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Sept. 19, 2003
TOLEDO, Ohio - Michigan State men's golf team sits in fourth place following the first 36 holes of the Inverness Intercollegiate, which is being held at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. The Spartans shot a 307 in the morning, but rebounded with an afternoon-best score of 296 for a 36-hole total of 603. The Spartans are just one stroke behind third-place Kansas State (602). UCLA, who is ranked No. 2 in the country in the preseason Golfweek poll, lead the field with a 594, while No. 29 Illinois sits in second place with a 597.
"It was a great effort from our team," said MSU head coach Mark Hankins. "Our conditioning really showed up in the afternoon session. The guys continue to play well, especially on a long 36-hole day."
The Spartans also are in front of four teams who are ranked in the Golfweek preseason poll. No 9 Augusta State is seventh (609), No. 24 Minnesota is ninth (617), No. 26 Oklahoma is tied for fifth (606) and No. 30 Duke is 12th (622). Central District foes Kent State and Northwestern are tied for 10th with a 618 heading into the final round.
Senior Ben Fox (Fort Wayne, Ind.) leads the field with a 144, going into Saturday's final round. Fox shot back-to-back rounds of 72 on Friday (Sept. 19). Fox holds a one shot lead over UCLA's John Merrick and Minnesota's Justin Smith, as both players carded a 145 on Friday.
"Ben played good all day long," commented Hankins. "To shoot back-to-back 72's in bad conditions is pretty darn good."
Freshman Matt Harmon (Grand Rapids, Mich.) is looking for his second straight top-10 finish. Harmon is tied for ninth after carding a 77-72-149 on Friday.
Redshirt freshman Zac Zedrick (Danville, Ill.) and junior Andrew Ruthkoski (Muskegon, Mich.) are tied for 37th heading into Saturday. Zedrick carded a 155 (80-75), while Ruthkoski posted 78-77-155.
Rounding out the Spartan lineup is freshman Craig Revell (Kingston, Ont.), who is tied for 51st. Revell shot a 158 (80-78) on the part 71, 7,255 yard Inverness Club course.
The final round of the Inverness Intercollegiate tees off on Saturday (Sept.20) with a shotgun start at 2 p.m.
Inverness IntercollegiateInverness Club (Toledo, Ohio)Sept. 19-20, 2003
Team Standings (after 36 holes)Place Name Scores1 UCLA 294-300-5942 Illinois 301-296-5973 Kansas State 299-303-6024 Michigan State 307-296-603T5 New Mexico 296-310-606T5 Oklahoma 299-307-6067 Augusta State 309-300-6098 Central Florida 304-311-6159 Minnesota 309-308-617T10 Kent State 303-315-618T10 Northwestern 306-312-61812 Duke 316-306-622T13 Toledo 313-310-623T13 Missouri 304-319-62315 Notre Dame 310-317-627
Top 10 Individual Results (after 36 holes)Place Name, School Scores1 Ben Fox, Michigan State 72-72-144T2 John Merrick, UCLA 71-74-145T2 Justin Smith, Minnesota 71-74-145T4 Steve Conway, UCLA 73-74-147T4 Joe Affrunti, Illinois 74-73-147T6 Jay Reynolds, New Mexico 72-76-148T6 Dillon Dougherty, N'western 76-72-148T6 Martin Flores, Oklahoma 73-75-148T9 Patrick Nagle, Illinois 77-72-149T9 Barry Roof, Central Florida 73-76-149T9 Ryan Blaum, Duke 73-76-149T9 Matt Harmon, Michigan State 77-72-149
MSU Individual Standings (after 36 holes)Ben Fox 72-72-144 (first)Matt Harmon 77-72-149 (tied for ninth)Zac Zedrick 80-75-155 (tied for 37th)Andrew Ruthkoski 78-77-155 (tied for 37th)Craig Revell 80-78-158 (tied for 51st)
Players Mentioned
