The weekend didn’t exactly get off to a great start for either Michigan, the eighth seed, or Penn State, the seventh seed.
It was the opening of the spring portion of the wraparound 2022-2023 season with the playing of the Big Ten Match Play at the Hammock Beach Resort’s Ocean Course in Palm Coast, Fla. on the East Coast between Daytona Beach and Jacksonville.
A morning shower forced the match between two of the lowest-seeded teams Friday morning to be limited to nine holes with Michigan, No. 107 in the Golfstat rankings at the midseason pause in the college golf season, pulling out a 3-2 victory over Penn State, ranked 97th.
Of course, if the guys checked the weather reports from home with temperatures hurtling toward zero and winds gusting to 30 and 40 mph, maybe a chilly rain in Florida wasn’t so bad after all.
The Big Ten Match Play doesn’t include the entire league. The three highest-ranked teams at the midseason pause, No. 7 Illinois, the perennial conference champion, No. 24 Ohio State and No. 28 Purdue, weren’t there, nor was No. 41 Iowa, but nine Big Ten teams were there, leaving simulators behind to get on a real golf course and hit some real golf shots.
Of the six Big Ten teams that were awarded berths in NCAA regionals last spring, half of them were at Hammock Beach with seeds given out based on Golfstat rankings at the end of the fall campaign. And match play being match play, the unexpected will usually break out at some point.
Turned out, Michigan took that narrow win over Penn State and rode it all the way to the title, claiming a hard-fought 3-2 win over top-seeded Northwestern, ranked 38th. It was the lowest-seeded team to capture the title since the same Wolverines pulled off the feat as an eight seed in 2014.
There were three matches played Friday morning and I’m not exactly sure how it all worked out, but Penn State’s loss to Michigan knocked the Nittany Lions out of Friday afternoon’s quarterfinals. For instance, third-seeded Indiana, ranked 66th, beat Minnesota, seeded fifth and ranked 82nd, 3.5-1.5, Friday morning, but both played in the quarterfinals.
Penn State, though, turned its disappointing start into a solid weekend as the Nittany Lions advanced out of the consolation bracket Saturday morning via a tiebreaker (most holes won) after finishing in a 2.5-2.5 tie with Maryland, seeded ninth and ranked 189th.
The rust fully shaken off, Penn State finished off the weekend with an impressive 4-1 victory over Nebraska, seeded fourth and ranked 73rd, Saturday afternoon.
Penn State’s James Allen, a junior from Scarsdale, N.Y., earned a full point for the Nittany Lions with a 3 and 1 victory over Michigan’s Jude Kim, a junior from Plantation, Fla., in Friday morning’s nine-hole opener.
Two players on the Penn State roster who I have been following since they were high school standouts, senior Patrick Sheehan, the District One Class AAA champion in 2018 as a senior at Central Bucks East, and sophomore Morgan Lofland, a two-time Central League champion at Conestoga, settled for draws in their respective nine-hole matches.
Sheehan ended up with a half-point against Will Anderson, a junior from Portage, Mich., while Lofland finished in a tie with Ben Hoagland, a junior from Evansville, Ind.
The Wolverines then pulled out a pair of 1-up victories to seal the 3-2 victory.
Michigan’s Hunter Thomson, a sophomore from Canada, started off what turned into a 4-0 weekend with his victory over Jake Griffin, a sophomore from Kensington, Md., and Yugi Liu, a sophomore from China, edged senior Jimmy Meyers, who helped Pittsburgh Central Catholic capture the PIAA Class AAA team crown as a senior in 2018.
The win put Michigan into a quarterfinal showdown Friday afternoon with second-seeded Michigan State, ranked 55th. Pretty sure whenever this intra-state rivalry is renewed in any sport, anywhere, it matters.
Thomson picked up his second win of the day as he dismissed Drew Hackett, a senior from Charlotte, N.C., with a 6 and 4 victory.
Anderson cruised to a 4 and 3 victory over Ashton McCulloch, a senior from Canada, Kim posted a 3 and 1 victory over Troy Taylor II, a senior from Westerville, Ohio, and Hoagland earned a hall-point in battling a tough customer in August Meekhof, a junior from Coopersville, Mich., to a draw as Michigan claimed a 3.5-1.5 victory over Michigan State and booked a spot in Saturday morning’s semifinals.
Michigan State’s lone full point was delivered by Bradley Smithson, a senior from Grand Rapids, Mich. who claimed a 4 and 2 decision over Liu.
Indiana had won the last two playings of the Big Ten Match Play and the Hoosiers got off to a good start in their bid to make it three in a row.
After sneaking past Minnesota in its nine-hole match Friday morning, a veteran Indiana team advanced to a semifinal meeting with Michigan via a tiebreaker after battling Rutgers, seeded sixth and ranked 92nd, to a 2.5-2.5 draw in a quarterfinal match Friday afternoon.
Indiana got a pair of full points with convincing victories as Drew Salyers, a junior from Howard, Ohio, claimed a 4 and 3 win over Xavier Marcoux, a senior from Concord, Mass., and Harry Reynolds, a fifth-year player from Greenville, S.C., cruised to a 5 and 4 decision over James Newton, a freshman from Canada.
Mitch Davis, another fifth-year player from Valparaiso, Ind., earned a critical half-point for the Hoosiers by battling Luke Wells, a senior from Springfield, Ohio, to a draw.
The Scarlet Knights also had a pair of impressive wins as Rhett Sellers, a junior from Longview, Texas, rolled to a 5 and 3 victory over Noah Gillard, a senior from Greenwood, Ind., and Weston Jones, a sophomore from Sudbury, Mass., claimed a 4 and 3 verdict over Thomas Hurley, a fifth-year player from Suttons Bay, Mich.
Top-seeded Northwestern got a pair of wins on the first day of the Big Ten Match play.
Rutgers gave the Wildcats a bit of a battle, but Northwestern edged the Scarlet Knights, 3-2, in rain-shortened contest Friday morning.
David Nyfjall, a graduate student from Sweden and the reigning Big Ten individual champion, won twice Friday on his way to a 4-0 weekend for the Wildcats, including a hard-fought 1-up victory over Will Celiberti, a senior from Ridgewood, N.J., that was the clinching point in a 3-2 quarterfinal victory over Maryland. Nyfjall had earned a 3 and 2 victory earlier Friday over Rutgers’ Wells.
Northwestern’s other two full points came from James Imai, a senior from Brookline, Mass. who rolled to a 6 and 5 victory over Will Koons, a senior from Lutherville, Md., and Daniel Svard, a freshman from Sweden who pulled out a 1-up decision over Dillon Brown, a senior from Halifax, Mass.
Maryland got match wins from Ronnie Kim, a freshman from Olney, Md. who cruised to a 5 and 3 victory over Cameron Adam, a sophomore from Scotland, and Constantin Mons, a freshman from Germany who edged John Driscoll III, a senior from Lake Mary, Fla., 2 and 1.
Minnesota bounced back from its loss to Indiana Friday morning with a 5-0 sweep of Nebraska in the last of the four quarterfinal matches.
Harrison Arnold, a senior from England, got the Gophers off to a solid start with a 4 and 2 victory over the Cornhuskers’ Jeremy Sisson, a junior from Skaneateles, N.Y. Sisson had made another foray to Florida in mid-December and came away with a trophy as he captured the Dixie Men’s Amateur Championship at Eagle Trace Golf Club in Coral Springs.
Lincoln Johnson, a graduate student from Chaska, Minn., earned a 2 and 1 win over Will Marshall, a senior from Elburn, Ill., Jacob Pedersen, a graduate student from Minnetonka, Minn., edged Evan McDermott, a freshman from Spring Lake, Mich., 1-up, Antoine Sale, a senior from France, cruised to a 4 and 3 decision over Quinn Yost, a freshman from Farmington, N.M., and Bennett Swavely, a sophomore from Hudson, Wis., rolled to a 6 and 5 verdict over Caleb Badura, a senior from Aurora, Neb.
In Saturday morning’s semifinals, Michigan elbowed its way into the title match with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over defending champion Indiana. Thomson ran his record to 3-0 by grinding out a 1-up decision over Salyers.
The Wolverines’ other match wins came from Anderson, who rolled to a 5 and 3 victory over Davis, and Hoagland, who claimed a 4 and 2 decision over Eric Berggren, a senior from Windermere, Fla.
The Hoosiers picked up two full points as Gillard edged Kim, 2-up, and Reynolds earned a 3 and 1 win over Liu.
Nyfjall’s 4 and 2 victory over Minnesota’s Johnson might have been the difference as Northwestern reached the final via tiebreaker after the Wildcats and the Gophers battled to a 2.5-2.5 draw.
Northwestern got another full point from Driscoll, who outlasted Swavely, 2-up. The Wildcats picked up a critical half-point as Svard ended up on even terms with Sale.
Both of Minnesota’s full points came on the 18th hole as Arnold edged Imai, 1-up, and Petersen pulled out a 1-up victory over Adam. Sounds like some great matches all the way around.
Fittingly, it was Thomson holing a par putt on the 18th hole that gave him a 1-up victory over Imai and Michigan a 3-2 triumph over Northwestern in Saturday afternoon’s title math. Hail to the Victors, right?
The other full points for the Wolverines were earned by Liu, who claimed a 3 and 2 decision over Driscoll, and Kim, who knocked off Adam, 2 and 1.
Nyfjall completed his 4-0 weekend with a 2-up victory over Anderson. Nyfjall was the medalist in last spring’s Big Ten Championship at the French Lick Resort’s Pete Dye Course in French Lick, Ind. Nyfjall will defend his title in late April at Galloway National Golf Club at the Jersey Shore. Have always heard good things about Galloway National. Also, that it’s hard and can be really hard when the wind blows.
Svard picked up the other point for Northwestern with a 2-up victory over Hoagland.
Indiana and Minnesota reprised their match from Friday morning in the third-place match with the Hoosiers again beating the Gophers as a tiebreaker was needed to decide the 2.5-2.5 deadlock.
Indiana prevailed on the strength of a couple of decisive victories as Gillard rolled to an 8 and 7 victory over Petersen and Reynolds claimed a 4 and 3 victory over Swavely.
Salyers pulled out a crucial half-point by battling Arnold to a draw.
Minnesota’s two full points came from Johnson, who claimed a
4 and 3 decision over Davis, and
Sale, who pulled out a 2-up victory over Berggren.
Penn State finally got back on the golf course in Saturday morning’s consolation bracket and picked up a hard-fought tie-breaker win over Maryland.
Griffin claimed a 4 and 3 decision over the Terrapins’ Celiberti and Jud Langille, a junior from Ossining, N.Y., earned a 5 and 4 victory over Mons to account for the Nittany Lions’ two full points and Sheehan battled Kim to a draw to pick up a crucial half-point for Penn State.
Maryland claimed a pair of 1-up wins for its two full points as Brown edged the Nittany Lions’ Allen and Armand Papaziani, a freshman from France, pulled out a victory on the 18th hole against Lofland.
That gave Penn State a date opposite Nebraska, which had claimed a 4-1 win over Rutgers Saturday morning, and the Nittany Lions saved their best for last in winning three matches outright and halving two others in their 4-1 victory.
Sheehan, who represented Penn State in the NCAA’s Columbus Regional last spring and qualified for the U.S. Amateur for the second straight year in the summer, handed McDermott a 4 and 3 setback, Allen knocked off Yost, 4 and 2, and Meyers edged Reed Malleck, a junior from York, Neb.
Griffin battled Sisson to a draw and Langille capped a solid day by earning a half-point against Badura.
Michigan State, probably still smarting a little from its loss to Michigan, finished its weekend with a 4-1 victory over Maryland in the consolation bracket.
Meekhof, who finished in a tie for third place in the Big Ten Championship last spring at French Lick, led the way for the Spartans with a 5 and 4 victory over Brown.
Michigan State also got match wins from Hackett, who defeated Celiberti, 4 and 3, McCulloch, who knocked off Kim, 3 and 2, and Smithson, who rolled to a 6 and 5 decision over Papaziani.
Maryland got its lone point from Mons, who earned a 5 and 4 victory over Satchel Pierce, a sophomore from Edwardsburg, Mich.
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