Men's Golf Finishes On Top At The Boilermaker Invitational

April 8, 2007

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Michigan State men's golf team finished the two-day, 15-team Boilermaker Invitational in first place on Sunday afternoon, turning in the low round of the day with a 292 (4-over-par) for a total of 593 (17-over) on the par-72 Kampen Course. Junior Ryan Brehm remained in first place after Saturday's even-par performance, carding a 70 to beat the second place finisher by four shots.

"We were extremely well prepared for this tournament," head coach Mark Hankins said. "The guys worked through the whole off-season so that we could come out in the spring and compete to win tournaments. We were just a little better than the rest of the teams this particular weekend. I am proud of the whole team. We have been looking for five solid individual players to play 15 rounds of golf. Unfortunately, due to the weather this weekend, we only played 10 rounds, but we really had some consistent play. We battled the weather as well as anyone in the field and came out on top."

The tournament win was the first of the season for the Spartans and the first title since Mark Hankins and his team won the Big Ten Championships in 2005. The Spartans eight tournament titles in his seven years as head coach of the Green and White. The Spartans, who finished the first day in second place, were returning to the Boilermaker Invitational field for the first time since 2004. In 17 trips to the tournament, MSU now owns two titles (1969 and 2007).

After being in first place after round one, Purdue dropped to a tie for second place with Northwestern. Both teams finished with a 614 total (26-over) and trailed MSU by 9 strokes. Auburn was the next team to finish with 607 (31-over).

Brehm grabbed his first title of his State career with his third sub-par round of the season. The junior finished the afternoon with a 70 after a day one total of 72. Brehm was the only golfer to finish under par (2-under-par 142) and had his fifth career top five finish.

"With Ryan (Brehm) shooting under par today, it was a catalyst for our team," Hankins said. "He was the only person to shoot under par for the whole weekend and it really helps our team scoring when someone is shooting so well."

Junior Matt Harmon finished the tournament in ninth place with a 149. He improved on his first-round 75 by one stroke and posted a 74 in day two for Harmon's fourth top 10 finish of the season.

Freshman Jack Newman strung together a 76 from day one and a 74 on day two for a 15th-place finish and a 150 total in his sixth event of the year. Sophomore Grant Tungate improved by two strokes from day one for a 154 total (78-76) and a 36th-place finish. Sophomore Steve Cuzzort had the biggest improvement of the day as he moved up 15 spots to 43rd after shooting a 74 on day two, improving on his Saturday round by seven shots (81).

The Spartans return to action on April 14-15 at they travel to the Kepler Invitational in Columbus, Ohio, before they return home to host the Fossum/Spartan Invitational on April 21-22.