Spartans In Search Of First National Title
5/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 29, 2007
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
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The 28th-ranked Michigan State men's golf team will travel to the NCAA Division I Cham¬pionships in Williamsburg, Va., at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club, on May 30-June 2. The 28th-seeded Spartans are looking for their first National Championship in the history of the program. The tournament will be held on the Gold Course, a par-70, 6,803-yard course. The event will consist of 72 holes, with an 18-hole round played on each day. Live results can be found on golfstat.com.
Michigan State At The NCAA Championships
This will be the 16th time in program history that a Spartans' team will make an appearance at the NCAA tournament. The Green and White made six consecutive trips to the NCAA Cham¬pionships from 1967-1972. The Spartans are making their first trip under head coach Mark Hankins. The eighth-year head coach has pre¬viously sent an individual to the tournament, Eric Jorgensen in 2002, where he finished in a tie for 17th place with a score of 283.
How Was The Championship Field Formed?
The NCAA divided the country into three (East, Central, West) different regions with 27 teams, and six individuals not on those teams. The top-10 finishers at the regional tournaments re¬ceived a bid to the Championships, along with the top two individuals not on those teams.
Tentative Spartan Lineup-NCAA Championships
1. Matt Harmon
2. Ryan Brehm
3. Grant Tungate
4. Steve Cuzzort
5. Jack Newman
Final Dance For Harmon
The NCAA Championships marks the last time that senior Matt Harmon will bear the Spartan uniform. The senior has been an important part of MSU's success over the past four years. Competing in 45 events thus far, he ranks second in career stroke average with 73.57. He was just the second golfer in the history of the program to be named Big Ten Golf¬er of the Year, earned All-Big Ten Honors twice (Second Team in 2006 and First Team in 2007) and was named Academic All-Big Ten in 2005 and 2006.
The NCAA Regional Recap
After playing from behind for most of the 54-hole NCAA Cen¬tral Regional tournament, the Spartans moved up the lead¬erboard during the final two days to finish in eighth place to earn a bid to the NCAA Championships. The Spartans carded an 18-over par 306 in the final day to bring their total score to 51-over par 915, behind top team finisher Ryan Brehm who posted a 9-over 225.
After turning in one of his worst rounds of the season with an 83 over the first 18 holes, Brehm concluded day three with the best Spartan score for the third time this season. He carded a 1-over 73 for the final round to combine with his sub-par round (69) the previous day to complete 54 holes with a 9-over par 225 total and in 17th place.
Spartans Recover
To start the Regional tournament, the Green and White posted a 319 in the first round, tying its highest round of the season at the Inverness Intercollegiate (Sept. 6-8). After the first 18-holes, the Spartans sat in 18th place, but steadily improved during the next two days to recover from the 319 round and moved into eighth place, earning a bid to the NCAA Cham¬pionships.
Cuzzort Hits Milestone
Sophomore Steve Cuzzort reached 2,000 strokes after completing the NCAA Regional tournament. He also carries a 76.92 scoring average this season that includes two sub-par rounds and one even round. Last season, the then-freshman recorded 1,906 stokes.
MSU At Regionals
The recent trip to the NCAA Regionals was the Green and White's third team trip to the tournament under head coach Mark Hankins, and the sixth time in program history. The team earned bids in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2007, with the best finish under Hankins in 2007 when the team tied its best regional finish (8th). In 1993, the team also came in 8th behind individual medalist Heath Fell, and earned a bid to the NCAA Championships where the team tied for 27th. Last year, the team failed to be invited to the Regional tournament, but did see Ryan Brehm earn an individual bid. He finished tied for 75th.
It's Unanimous
Senior Matt Harmon was unanimously selected by the confer¬ence coaches as the Big Ten Player of the Year. Harmon is just the second MSU golfer to earn Big Ten Player of the Year honors in the conference's history, joining Heath Fell, who earned the honor in 1993. Harmon has posted an impressive 73.28 stroke average and recently won back-to-back tourna¬ments, including the Fossum/Spartan Invitational on April 21-22 and the Kepler Invitational on April 14-15. A 2005 PING All-Midwest Region selection, Harmon is a three-time All-Big Ten selection, earning first team honors in 2004 and second team honors in 2005.
Ryan Brehm earned Second-Team All-Big Ten honors, the third time in his career he has been honored. The 2005 Big Ten Freshman of the Year has posted a 74.14 scoring average as a junior to go along with a tournament title at the Boilermaker Invitational. Brehm earned Big Ten Golfer of the Week honors for his medalist performance. The junior earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors as a sophomore and a freshman.
Hankins Named Big Ten Coach Of The Year
Mark Hankins earned his second Big Ten Coach of the Year award after leading the Spartans to a share of the conference title (April 27-29). The 1993 Iowa State graduate led the Spar¬tans to three tournament victories and six top-five finishes this season, helping the team to a ranking of 26th in the nation. He also won the award in 2005 after leading MSU to its first Big Ten Championship since 1969. The eighth-year head coach has tutored 10 All-Big Ten performers in his career and helped Michigan State to 10 tournament titles.
Simply The Best
With the Big Ten tournament win, it marks the third time this season that MSU has come home with a title and the second consecutive win for the squad, after a top performance at the Fossum/Spartan Invitational on April 21-22. The Green and White also won the Boilermaker Invitational (April 7-8). This is the third time in MSU golf history that a team has won three titles in a season - the Spartans first accomplished the feat in 1979, and again during the 2004-2005 season.
Spartans Warm Up In The Spring
The Spartans have competed in seven spring tournaments and have continued to improve since a 14th-place (of 18), fin¬ish at the Schenkel E-Z-Go, in the first competition since the fall. After the Schenkel E-Z-Go, State has turned up the heat and finished no lower than eighth place, making them one of the hottest teams in the nation.
Record Breakers
At the Fossum/Spartan Invitational (April 21-22), the Green and White saw numerous records broken. A tournament team record was shattered when the Spartans shot a team tourna¬ment record 13-under-par 563 after 18 holes. The Green and White also broke the previous 54-hole tournament scoring record (841), which was previously set by Northwestern (851) in 2001. Michigan State's total also broke its all-time best 54-hole team score, obliterating the previous 847 set at the 2005 Big Ten Championships.
Spartans Dominate Weekly Award
To start the month of April, three different Spartans came away with medalist honors, and in those weeks, the Green and White earned three Big Ten Golfer Of the Week Acco¬lades. Most recently, Matt Harmon and Jack Newman were named Big Ten Co-Golfer of the Week for their efforts at the Fossum/Spartan Invitational (April 21-22). Harmon earned his second consecutive conference honor after a win in mid-April at the Kepler Intercollegiate. Ryan Brehm was honored with the award on April 7 when he won the Boilermaker Invita¬tional.
Seeing Double
After the win at the Boilermaker Invitational (April 8) by Ryan Brehm, the Spartans had their second consecutive weekend with a top finisher, when Matt Harmon won the Kepler Inter¬collegiate.
The Green and White have not had back-to-back individual medalists since 1987, when Don Val Loozen won the Wiscon¬sin Invitational and the following week, Jon Kosier topped the field at the Spartan Invitational.
Hooray For Harmon
Matt Harmon earned his first title of the season and was the highest man on the leader board after 24 holes at the Ke¬pler Intercollegiate. He finished day two's suspended round through six holes at even par and continued to complete the final 12 holes at even par on the par-71 Scarlet Course for a 142 total (71-71). The 19th-ranked golfer was the only person to finish at even par, and led the second-place finisher, 22nd-ranked Derek Fathauer of Louisville, by two strokes and third-place finisher, Robert Rohanna of Penn State, by four strokes. The win was Harmon's second victory of his Spartan career; he won the Schenkel E-Z-Go in 2006, and it was the 13th top-five finish of his collegiate career.
Brehm Named Big Ten Co-Golfer Of The Week
Michigan State junior Ryan Brehm earned Big Ten Co-Player of the Week and Golfweek Player of the Week honors after claiming the individual title at April's Boilermaker Invitational. Brehm recorded a 2-under-par 142 (72-70) and was the only player in the field to finish the 36-hole tournament under par. The win was Brehm's first collegiate victory and fifth top-five finish of his career. The honors were the first of Brehm's career, and first for a Spartan since Matt Harmon earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors after winning the 2006 Schen¬kel EZ-Go Invitational.
Brehm-ing With Confidence
With Ryan Brehm's win at the Boilermaker Invitational, the junior earned his first title of his State career and moved up 71 spots to 75th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. His best finish of the 2006-07 season prior to his recent title was in the first tournament of the season, the Inverness Intercollegiate, when he tied for ninth. Last season, he nabbed second place at the Big Ten Championships and tied for second at the Duke Classic.
Hankins Headed To World University Games
Michigan State head coach Mark Hankins was selected to coach the United States men's golf team for the 2007 World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand, Aug. 14-17. Hankins will lead four top U.S. collegiate golfers chosen by the U.S. Olympic Committee and Hankins.
Hankins is the second MSU coach in 2006-07 to be offered an international coaching position in the upcoming summer months. Field hockey coach Rolf van de Kerkhof will serve as head coach of the U.S. Under-16 National Team Selection during the 2007 Holland Hockey Tour.
Fossum Inducted Into Michigan Golf Hall of Fame
Former Michigan State University men's golf coach Bruce Fossum was inducted into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame on May 20, 2007. Fossum joined his wife, Mary, the first-ever MSU women's golf coach (1973-97) who was inducted into the hall of fame in 2002. The Fossum's are just the second husband-wife duo to be named to the hall of fame.
The induction ceremony was held on May 20 at the Eagle Eye Golf Club in Bath. Fossum, along with John Lindholm, Steve Maddalena, Mark Wilson, and Ted Woehrle, raised the membership number in the hall of fame to 80.
Players Mentioned
