Spartan Golfers Finish Fourth at Gopher Invitational

Sept. 17, 2006

WAYZATA, Minn. - The Michigan State men's golf team maintained its second-round position and finished fourth at the Gopher Invitational, hosted by Minnesota at the par-72, 7,020-yard Spring Hill Golf Club. Michigan State finished with a two-day, 54-hole score of 306-289-305 - 900, and was led by senior Matt Harmon, who finished fourth individually with a 72-74-71 - 217 total. In addition, junior Ryan Brehm posted his second top-10 finish of the season, finishing 10th with a 78-71-75 - 224 total. It was the Spartans' first ever appearance at the Spring Hill course.

No. 21 Stanford carded the day's only sub-300 round and won the 12-team event with a 301-291-297 - 889 total, five shots clear of No. 15 Minnesota (303-287-304 - 894). Stanford's Zack Miller and SMU's Colt Knost tied for individual medalist honors with 2-under-par 214 totals, three shots ahead of Harmon.

"The last two days have been really tough, we seem to find bad weather," MSU head coach Mark Hankins said. "We fought 25 mph winds today. We got off to a decent start, and I think we could have finished in the top three, but faltered a little in the middle. Matt carried us today."

Taking third in the tournament was SMU with an 896 total. Finishing in fifth place, behind Michigan State, was No. 20 Lamar at 902. Indiana (6 th-908), No. 24 Northwestern (7th-915), Ohio State (8th-916), Notre Dame (9th-918), Georgia Southern (10th-934), University of Denver (11th-939) and Finland (12th-967) rounded out the 12-team field.

In his second start as a freshman, Jack Newman posted the third best Spartan score behind the strength of his first career sub-par round on Saturday. Newman carded a three-day total of 77-71-80 - 228 to finish tied for 23rd.

Also competing for Michigan State were sophomores Randy Hutchison and Grant Tungate. Hutchison finished tied for 36th with a 79-75-79 - 233 total, while Tungate finished tied for 43rd with a 83-73-80 - 236 total.

The Spartans continue their fall schedule next week when the team travels to Birmingham, Ala., for the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate on Sept. 25-26.