Michigan State University
Fossum/TaylorMade Invitational
Men's Golf Places Fourth At Fossum/TaylorMade Invitational
4/27/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 27, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State men's golf team finished fourth at the 36th annual Bruce Fossum/TaylorMade Invitational Sunday (April 27) at Forest Akers West Golf Course, located on the campus of Michigan State University. The Spartans topped the leaderboard after two rounds, but carded a final-round score of 299 to give them a final team score of 874 (289-286-299).
Co-champions Kent State and Illinois both shot final scores of 864. James Lepp of Illinois won medalist honors, as he tied a tournament record by carding an 8-under score of 208 (69-67-72). Blue skies and temperatures in the low-70s made for optimum scoring conditions for the second-consecutive day.
"I feel that we handled a lot of the pressure well," said Michigan State coach Mark Hankins. "We are still working on getting better this spring. Being in the lead after two rounds really helped us remember what being in contention is like."
Junior Casey Lubahn (Sand Lake, Mich.) paced Michigan State, firing an even, final-round score of 72. Lubahn finished the tournament two strokes under par with a three-round score of 214 (70-72-72), good for a share of eighth place.
Sophomore Andrew Ruthkoski (Muskegon, Mich.) carded a final-round score of 75 and finished 12th with a final score of 216 (71-70-75). Senior All-American Eric Jorgensen (Big Rapids, Mich.) also fired a final-round score of 75. Jorgensen shot a final tournament score of 216 and tied for 21st place.
Junior Ben Fox (Fort Wayne, Ind.) shot a score of 77 for the final round, giving him a final tournament score of 230 (82-71-77). Senior co-captain John Koskinen (Baraga, Mich.) recorded a final round score of 89. Koskinen finished the tournament with a score of 245 (74-82-89).
Senior Lorne Don (Toronto, Ont.), junior J.J. Beckstrom (North Muskegon, Mich.) and sophomore James Chestnut (Grand Blanc, Mich.) competed unattached as individuals. Don fired a team-best final round of 71 and finished the tournament with a score of 228 (79-78-71). Beckstrom shot a score of 80 for the final round to give him a final score of 231 (80-71-80), while Chestnut carded a final score of 74 and finished the tournament with a 233 (79-80-74).
Michigan State returns to action May 2-4, at the Big Ten Championship in Bloomington, Ind.
Bruce Fossum/TaylorMade InvitationalForest Akers West Golf CourseApril 26-27, 2003
Final Team Standings1 Kent State 299-278-287-864 Illinois 284-293-287-8643 Minnesota 285-291-293-8694 Michigan State 289-286-299-8745 Ohio State 301-290-289-8806 Toledo 294-290-297-8817 Northwestern 293-297-292-8828 Indiana 306-293-297-8969 Iowa 307-300-292-89910 Notre Dame 295-303-303-90111 Wisconsin 314-299-293-90612 Xavier 311-297-301-90913 Eastern Michigan 304-306-304-91414 Michigan 311-300-307-918
Top 10 Individual Results (final)1 James Lepp, Illinois 69-67-72-2082 Peter Laws, Kent State 72-70-67-2093 Tom Johnson, Northwestern 68-74-69-2114 Zach Doran, Ohio State 73-68-71-212 Steve Lohmeyer, Kent State 73-67-72-212 Justin Smith, Minnesota 70-72-70-2127 Patrick Nagle, Illinois 70-75-68-2138 Casey Lubahn, Michigan State 70-72-72-214 Jeff Overton, Indiana 77-66-71-214 Matt Anderson, Minnesota 69-70-75-214
MSU Individual Standings (final)Casey Lubahn 70-72-72-214 (tied for eighth)Andrew Ruthkoski 71-70-75-216 (12th)Eric Jorgensen 74-73-75-222 (tied for 21st)Lorne Don 79-78-71-228 (tied for 39th)Ben Fox 82-71-77-230 (tied for 45th)J.J. Beckstrom 80-71-80-231 (tied for 49th)James Chestnut 79-80-74-233 (tied for 59th)John Koskinen 74-82-89-245 (74th)
