Michigan State University Athletics
Men's Golf Readies for 2012 Big Ten Championship
4/26/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 26, 2012
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The championship season has arrived for the Michigan State men's golf program as it travels to French Lick, Ind. for the 2012 Big Ten Championships. Play begins at the French Lick Resort's Pete Dye Course (par-72, 7,152 yards) on Friday, April 27 at 8 a.m. ET with 36 holes and finishes with 18 holes on both Saturday (9 a.m. ET) and Sunday (8 a.m. ET).
"This is the event we look forward to with our preparation all year," said head coach Casey Lubahn. "This is the first neutral site event hosted by French Lick and I think all the teams are curious and excited about this change to our championship. It is going to be a great test on a premiere golf course.
"Our keys are going to be the same they have been all spring - avoid big numbers and attack when the opportunities present themselves. We need to have confidence in ourselves and follow the process we have in place."
Competing this weekend for the Spartans will be senior Chris Mory, juniors Dan Ellis, Dave Ellis and Matthew Moseley, and freshman McCormick Clouser.
Mory and Moseley have the most experience for MSU at Big Ten Championships, with both playing in their third-straight event. Mory will look to build off his fifth-place showing last season, after finishing in a tie for 32nd as a sophomore. Moseley was 43rd as a sophomore and 42nd as a freshman. In his Big Ten Tournament debut last year, Dan Ellis tied for 29th, while his brother Dave was 32nd in 2010. Clouser will be making his Championship debut.
Dan Ellis has been the top Spartan throughout the 2011-12 season. Ellis leads the team with a 72.8 scoring average, while also posting three top-5 and six top-20 finishes. Mory and Dave Ellis each have 73.6 stroke averages this season. Mory has four top-10 placements and leads the team with 79 birdies on the year. Moseley, along with Dan Ellis and Mory, are the lone Spartans to appear in all 11 events this season. Moseley had five top-20 tournaments and has posted a 74.4 scoring average. In his first season in green and white, Clouser has appeared in all but one event, carding a 74.7 average.
It will be the first Big Ten Championship as head coach for Lubahn, who previously won titles as an assistant coach in 2005 and 2008. Michigan State has won four Big Ten titles in its history (1969, 2005, 2007, 2008) and has one medalist finish (Eric Jorgensen in 2002).
Six of the 12 Big Ten schools are currently ranked in the top-70 of the latest Golfstat rankings - Iowa (26), Indiana (31), Illinois (38), Purdue (51), Northwestern (54) and Ohio State (66).
This marks the first time that both the men and women will compete at the same time and on a neutral site.
The tournament will be broadcast on a tape-delay on Big Ten Network, airing Sunday, May 13 at 10 a.m. ET.
