Michigan State University Athletics
Four Spartan Golfers Qualify For Western Amateur Championship
7/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
July 27, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Four members of the Michigan State men's golf team - Andrew Ruthkoski, Mitch Pierce, Matt Harmon and Zac Zedrick - have qualified for the 102nd Western Amateur Championship, which begins on Wednesday, July 28 at the Point O'Woods Golf & Country Club in Benton Harbor, Mich. The field of the nation's 156 top amateur golfers will play 18 holes on Wednesday and Thursday followed by a cut to the low 50 scores and ties. The players making the cut will play 36 holes on Friday, with the low 16 qualifying for match play on Saturday, July 31. The championship match will be held on Sunday, Aug. 1.
On Monday, July 26, 46 golfers qualified during the pre-qualifying competition at Lake Michigan Hills G.C. in Benton Harbor, Mich., and Hampshire C.C. in Dowagiac, Mich. Sophomore Mitch Pierce (Fenton, Mich.) shot a 69 at the Hampshire to qualify. Meanwhile at Lake Michigan Hills, senior Andrew Ruthkoski (Muskegon, Mich.) shot a 71 for the second-best score at that course, while sophomores Matt Harmon (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and Zac Zedrick (Danville, Ill.) both finished with a 74.
Among the players expected to take part at this year's Western Amateur are: J.J. Jakovac, the 2003 Western Amateur runner-up and three-time NCAA III All-American; Ryan Moore, the 2004 NCAA individual medalist from UNLV; and baseball great Mark McGwire, who played for the St. Louis Cardinals and broke Roger Maris' single-season home run record with 70 homers in 1998.
A prestigious national tournament since its founding in 1899 at the Glen View Club in Golf, Ill., the Western Amateur has been held every year since the inaugural event with the exception of 1918 during World War I and 1943-45 during World War II. Past champions at the Point O'Woods in Benton Harbor, Mich., include Ben Crenshaw, Curtis Strange, Hal Sutton, Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard and Tiger Woods.
