The University of Michigan men’s golf team will host the 2015 Desert Mountain Intercollegiate, Friday and Saturday (March 6-7) at Desert Mountain’s Outlaw Course. There will be 12 teams in the field, playing 54 holes in the two-day tournament. Day one will consist of 36 holes of stroke play, followed by a final 18 on day two. Selected teams will be allowed an individual. The Outlaw Course will be set up for a par 72 and 7,107 yards. Scoring will be five players, count the low four scores.
The Tournament Field
There will be 12 teams competing in the 2015 Desert Mountain Intercollegiate, including Florida, Georgetown, Marquette, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Purdue, Saint Mary’s, San Francisco, St. John’s and Toledo. There will be a total of nine individuals: Florida (1), Marquette (1), Michigan (3), Nebraska (1), Ohio State (1), Oregon (1) and Purdue (1).
The Tournament Schedule
Thursday, March 5 — Practice Round (18) tee times off No. 1 and 11 at 9:30 a.m. MST
Friday, March 6 — First Round (18) begins with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. MST
Friday, March 6 — Second Round (18) continuous play following completion of first round
Saturday, March 7 — Final Round (18) begins with tee times off No. 1 & 11 at 8:30 a.m. MDT
The Michigan Lineup
With spring break training culminating in the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate, the entire Michigan roster will travel and compete at the event. All eight players will compete for five starting spots during weekly qualifiers, while the three that do not qualify will play as individuals. Heading to Arizona will be senior Noori Hyun, junior Brett McIntosh, junior Chris O’Neill, junior Andrew Yeager, sophomore Bryce Evon, sophomore Reed Hrynewich, sophomore Tom Swanson and freshman Kyle Mueller.
WOLVERINE BITES
• With Michigan hosting the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate, the Wolverines will host their 47th event in the history of the program. Only four of those have been away from Ann Arbor. U-M hosted the 2000 and 2001 Wolverine South Invitational in Savannah, Georgia (Hunter Club), the Wolverine at Mission In in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida (El Campeon Course at Mission Inn), and this week’s Desert Mountain Intercollegiate in Scottsdale, Arizona (Outlaw Course).
• Michigan has faced a minimum of at least one Big Ten team in each of the seven events this season. The Wolverines will make it eighth straight when U-M plays against Nebraska, Ohio State and Purdue at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate. Overall, U-M has a 14-6-1 record against conference foes in tournament play.
• Reed Hrynewich finished as the top Wolverine for the first time in his career at last week’s Puerto Rico Classic (Feb. 22-24). He is the first golfer other than Chris O’Neill and Kyle Mueller to lead U-M at an event this season.
• Reed Hrynewich posted a career-best single-round tally with his five-under 67 in the second round of the Puerto Rico Classic. He posted six birdies, one bogey and 11 pars en route to the career-round tally. The round topped his prior best of three-under 68 fired in the first round of the 2014 NYX Hoosier Invitational (April 12-13). With his 67, he closed with his first sub-par 54-hole tournament tally with his one-under 215. Overall, Hrynewich has started six events this season. So far, he has maintained a career-best stroke average pace of 73.47 per round, shattering last year’s 76.00 per-round average in 10 events. The lefty has four sub-par rounds.
• As a team, Michigan is averaging 73.61 per round and near par as a team with a 290.94 average. Kyle Mueller leads U-M with a 72.28 per-round average, which is currently on pace as one of the lowest of all-time at U-M — 72.00 by Matt Thompson (2009-10). Chris O’Neill is just behind at 73.00, which is just about equal than his prior season best — 73.03 (2013-14).
• Newcomer Kyle Mueller has been the top Wolverine in five of the seven events, including winning his first collegiate start — the Wolverine Intercollegiate (Sept. 6-7). He has posted 10 of his 18 rounds at or below par. He leads with six sub-par rounds, including a career-best four-under 67 in the first round of the Wolverine Intercollegiate — his first collegiate round. He has added a perfect 4-0 record at the Big Ten Match Play Championships.
• With his start at the Puerto Rico Classic, Chris O’Neill increased his consecutive event streak to 31 starts. He has yet to miss an event in three seasons. Classmate Brett McIntosh has played in 30 straight events. Both are expected to start at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate this weekend.
• In 31 career events, Chris O’Neill has 13 top-20 finishes, with eight among the top 10 and five in the top five — including his first individual title at the 2013 Windon Memorial Classic.
• Chris O’Neill carded a career-best 65 during first round of the Wolverine Intercollegiate, besting his previous career low by one stroke — 66 shot in the final round of the 2013 Wolverine Intercollegiate. En route to the shooting his best round, he posted four birdies, one eagle and 13 pars on the par 71, 6,704 yard U-M Golf Course.
• Michigan’s roster features two left-handed golfers — Brett McIntosh and Reed Hrynewich. U-M’s last lefty was Kevin Dore (2004-07).
LAST TIME OUT
With a pair of top-20 individual finishes, Michigan posted an 874 total to close seventh at Puerto Rico Classic held at the Rio Mar Country Club’s River Course. U-M closed with rounds of 296, 288 and 290. The Wolverines were led by Reed Hrynewich, who tied for 14th at 215, and Kyle Mueller, who tied for 17th at 216.
