Michigan State University Athletics
Three Golfers Head To Michigan Amateur Championship
6/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
June 21, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Three members of the Michigan State men's golf team - senior James Chestnut (Grand Blanc, Mich.), sophomore Matt Harmon (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and senior Andrew Ruthkoski (Muskegon, Mich.) - will compete in the 93rd Michigan Amateur Championship June 22-26 at the Grosse Ile Golf and Country Club in Grosse Ile, Mich. The championship field of 156 golfers was determined through exemptions and 12 sectional qualifiers held May 11-June 5.
Golfers will play 18 holes of stroke play on Tuesday, June 22 and Wednesday, June 23 to determine the 64-player match play field. If necessary, a hole-by-hole playoff will take place immediately following the completion of Wednesday's round to cut the field to exactly 64 players. The player who has the lowest 36-hole total will be named medalist and have his name engraved on the Charles Kocsis Medalist Trophy. The players tend to have mixed feelings about earning medalist honors, as only seven medalists have gone on to win the championship.
Match play begins on Thursday, June 24 with a morning round of matches followed by the second round of match play in the afternoon. By the end of the day, the field will be reduced to the "Sweet Sixteen." Match play continues on Friday, June 25 and Saturday, June 26 with two rounds of matches per day. The 18-hole Championship match is set for Saturday afternoon.
Ruthkoski is the defending medalist in stroke play as he shot a two-round score of 134 (70-64) in last year's championship at the Belvedere Golf Club in Charlevoix. In doing so, he set three Michigan Amateur Championship records: lowest two-round total to earn medalist honors (134); lowest single round in a Michigan Amateur Championship (64); and competitive course record at Belvedere Golf Club (64). In addition, he tied the course record (casual round of 64 made by Chuck Kocsis on October 6, 1964).
Ruthkoski fell in the third round of match play last year and placed second at the 2002 Michigan Amateur Championship. In addition to Ruthkoski, Chestnut also advanced to match play last year.
