What You Need to Know
» Michigan posted a third-place finish at the Inverness Intercollegiate, the highest finish for U-M at Toledo’s event and first in top five at Inverness.
» Kyle Mueller was the medalist runner-up with a one-over 214 total. It is the third top-five finish in his 14-event career.
» Chris O’Neill tied for sixth (218) and earned his 10th career top-10 finish in 38 career events.
» Michigan had season-best single round team tallies of 293 in the first and final rounds leading U-M to a closing 884 54-hole total.
Site: Toledo, Ohio
Course: Inverness Club (Par 71, 7,300 yards)
Tournament: Inverness Intercollegiate
U-M Team Standing: 3rd Place of 15 Teams (293-298-293/884)
Top U-M Individual: Kyle Mueller, 2nd (70-74-70/214, +1)
Next U-M Event: Sun-Mon., Sept. 27-28 — at Windon Memorial Classic (Glencoe, Ill.)
TOLEDO, Ohio — Sophomore Kyle Mueller‘s medalist runner-up finish helped the University of Michigan men’s golf team to a third-place finish today (Tuesday, Sept. 22) with an 884 54-hole total at Toledo’s Inverness Intercollegiate played at the famed Inverness Club.
“I was proud that the guys bounced back this week with a solid tournament on a good course,” said U-M head coachChris Whitten. “We started with two of the tougher courses on our schedule, and I like that because we will definitely learn from our mistakes and take it forward for the rest of the year. I think we play our best on difficult courses, and we love playing at Inverness for sure.
“These guys all have the game to compete in every tournament we play, but if we want to be in contention down the stretch, we have to eliminate a few more mistakes. I love parts of everyone’s game right now, but I would like to see more consistency from the beginning of the round until the end — carrying through rounds one, two and three.”
Returning to Inverness for the first time since 2012, the Wolverines got off to a solid start in Monday’s (Sept 21) opening round as U-M posted a season-best 293. The Maize and Blue was tied for second just two shots out of the lead after 18 holes thanks to a pair of sub-par rounds from senior Chris O’Neill (69, -2) and sophomore Kyle Mueller(70, -1).
As the winds picked up in the Monday’s second round, the Wolverines tallied a 298 team total to fall to fourth. Once again, O’Neill (73) and Mueller (74) led the way for the Wolverines, holding second and tied for third, respectively, after 36 holes.
Heading into the final round, the Wolverines used a second one-under 70 from Mueller and a one-over 72 from freshman Nick Carlson to match their opening season-best 293 and move up one spot into third.
With his two sub-par tallies, Mueller finished as the top Wolverine, closing as the medalist runner-up with a one-over 214 total. He was atop the leaderboard until MSU’s Mitch Rutledge used a final-round 66 to take the top spot with a one-under 211 total.
“I started off a little shaky, bogeying three of the first seven holes, but calmed down after a birdie on No. 8,” said Mueller of his final round. “I hit the ball great all week and putted great yesterday. I struggled early on today with the speed of the greens. After making the turn at two over, I felt that if I could shoot four under on the back I would give myself a chance. I am a little disappointed I came up a little short in the end, but all and all it was a solid tournament. As a team, we are just looking forward for another solid finish next week. We have improved a lot as a team over the summer and just excited to see what we can do this year.”
O’Neill tied for sixth in his 38th consecutive start for the Blue. He posted a 218 after rounds of 69 (-2), 73 and 76.
“Kyle (Mueller) and Chris (O’Neill) played especially solid this week,” said Whitten. “I know they both could’ve saved a few shots in places, but everything in their games from tee to green was there this week at times, which will give them a lot of confidence going forward.”
Junior Tom Swanson just missed posting his second straight top-25 finish as the tied for 31st at 226 (75-75-76), while Carlson’s second straight tournament closing with a 72 helped him to tie for 40th at 229 (81-76-72). SeniorBrett McIntosh made his season debut and tied for 50th at 231 (79-77-75).
Michigan’s early fall stretch of events continues as the Wolverines will leave Saturday (Sept. 26) for Glencoe, Illinois, to play in Northwestern’s Windon Memorial Classic, Sunday and Monday (Sept. 27-28) for the ninth consecutive year. The 54-hole event has rotated throughout some of the top Chicago courses; however, play returns to the Lake Shore Country Club for the first time since the 2007 event.
“I’m already excited for the Windon next week,” said Whitten. “It’s a tournament where we have traditionally played well. I know the guys will feel good to get right back into competition.”
Final Team Standings
1. California 291-293-293 = 877 (+25)
2. East Tennessee State 293-293-294 = 880
3. MICHIGAN 293-298-293 = 884
4. Yale 305-290-292 = 887
Purdue 302-286-299 = 887
6. Ohio State 297-306-289 = 892
7. Michigan State 303-303-288 = 894
8. Alabama-Birmingham 305-291-302 = 898
9. Kent State 298-303-299 = 900
10. Toledo 306-298-303 = 907
11. Mercer 299-301-309 = 909
12. Miami (Ohio) 308-299-304 = 911
13. Northern Illinois 313-303-298 = 914
14. Akron 315-298-302 = 915
15. Austin Peay 312-326-315 = 953
Top Individuals
1. Mitch Rutledge, Michigan State 75-70-66 = 211 (-2)
2. KYLE MUELLER, U-M 70-74-70 = 214
3. Gudmund Kristjansson, ETSU 73-72-70 = 215
4. Joe Willis, Yale 75-70-71 = 216
5. KK Limbhasut, California 70-70-77 = 217
6. CHRIS O'NEILL, U-M 69-73-76 = 218
Austin Eoff, Purdue 75-70-73 = 218
Tee-k Kelly, Ohio State 71-76-71 = 218
Other Michigan Individuals
T31. Tom Swanson 75-75-76 = 226
T40. Nick Carlson 81-76-72 = 229
T50. Brett McIntosh 79-77-75 = 231
