No. 23 Men's Golf Travels to Duke Classic
10/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Oct. 13, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The No. 23 men's golf team travels to Durham, N.C., Sunday and Monday (Oct. 17-18) for the Duke Classic, looking to continue their exciting start to the season at one of their toughest tournaments to date. As the highest ranked team in the 14-team field, the Spartans hope to continue the steady play that has paced them to two runner-up finishes and a victory this year.
Held at the 7,104-yard, par-72 Duke Golf Club, the 14-team field will play 36 holes on Sunday, starting with an 8 a.m. shotgun. Teams will tee-off between 8 a.m. and 10:06 a.m. for Monday's final round.
Despite boasting the highest team ranking in the field, Head Coach Mark Hankins said that it is tough to label the Spartans as the tournament favorite, especially since it is still early in the season.
"I'd say there are probably about six favorites, including North Carolina and Duke at their home course," Hankins said. "There are no real weak teams; that makes for a lot of opportunities for people to win."
This year's field features in-state rival Michigan as well as defending champion North Carolina. Rounding out the field is: Baylor, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Drake, Duke, Florida Southern, Furman, UNC-Wilmington, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, and Washington.
"This is a good field," Hankins said. "Whenever you play against ACC and SEC schools, it's going to be high quality event."
The Spartans finished seventh out of 15 teams in last year's Duke Classic. Sophomore Matt Harmon (Grand Rapids, Mich.) looks to draw upon last season's success at Duke, as he led the Spartans with his first career top-five finish, including a career-low round of 66 in the second round.
Seniors Andrew Ruthkoski (Muskegon, Mich.) and Jimmy Chestnut (Grand Blanc, Mich.) will join Harmon in leading the team into Duke this year. In Chestnut's second appearance at Duke, he hopes to improve upon last year's 235 (75-81-79) performance. With a 75.00 average, Chestnut is averaging 1.06 strokes better than last season.
In the team's fourth event of the fall, Ruthkoski looks to keep two scoring trends alive. Ruthkoski has led the team in scoring in the last nine tournaments, dating back to last season's Border Olympics (April 2-3). In addition, Ruthkoski has posted six straight top-10 finishes, the first coming at last season's Kepler Invitational (April 17-18).
Sophomore Mitch Pierce (Fenton, Mich.) and freshman Ryan Brehm (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.) have started their seasons with career-firsts and will both make their Duke Classic debut this week.
Pierce posted his first career top-20 finish at the Adams Cup of Newport, shooting consecutive rounds of 75, putting him in a tie for 19th. After posting his first career round of even par in his second collegiate event, Brehm has continued to show the ability to shoot low, posting three rounds of par or better in his first seven rounds of the season.
The Spartans conclude the fall season Oct. 29-31 at the Landfall Tradition, hosted by UNC Wilmington in Wilmington, N.C.
