Sept. 24, 2012
Site: Skokie, Ill.
Course: Skokie Country Club (par 71, 7,086 yards)
Tournament: Windon Memorial Classic
U-M Standing: 9th Place of 15 Teams (305-307-304/916)
Top U-M Individual: Chris O'Neill, tie-5th (72-72-74/218)
Next U-M Event: Sun-Tue., Oct. 7-9 -- at Fightin' Irish Gridiron Classic (South Bend, Ind.)
SKOKIE, Ill. -- Paced with a top-five finish from freshman Chris O'Neill (Glen Allen, Va./Deep Run HS), the University of Michigan men's golf team closed with a 304 final round to post a 916 event total and finish ninth today (Monday, Sept. 24) at the Windon Memorial Classic held at the Skokie Country Club.
Playing their second event in five days, the Wolverines opened Sunday's (Sept. 23) opening round with a 305 after O'Neill's career-best one-over 72 put U-M in eighth. Beginning the second round, U-M was able to get through 13 holes, before play was suspended due to darkness. Coming back this morning, the Wolverines headed back out to and finished the second round with a 307 after O'Neill again highlighted the round with his second one-over 72.
With strong winds reaching up to gusts of 25 miles per hour in the final round, the field was re-seeded in a shotgun format. Using a three-over 74 from O'Neill and a 76 from senior captain Miguel Echavarria (Medellin, Colombia/The Columbus School), U-M was one of four teams to finish with its best team total of the event closing with a 304 giving them a 916 total and a ninth-place finish for the second straight event.
Leading the Maize and Blue each round, O'Neill tied for fifth individually with a career-best 218 (72-72-74). His finish marked the second straight event a freshman has led the Wolverines. Senior Matt Alessi (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Birmingham Brother Rice) tied for 46th with a season-best 231 (76-78-77) and Echavarria tied for 55th at 234 (77-81-76).
Other Wolverine starter finishes included sophomore Noori Hyun (Seoul, Korea/Centreville HS [Va.]) tying for 63rd at 238 (83-78-77) and freshman Brett McIntosh (London, Ontario, Canada/Saunders Secondary School) tying for 73rd at 242 (80-79-83). Junior Matt Felsenfeld (West Bloomfield, Mich./Leadbetter Golf Academy [Fla.]) traveled as the individual and was 82nd at 255 (86-81-88).
Michigan will now take a few weekends off before heading back to competition Sunday through Tuesday, Oct. 7-9, as the Wolverines head to South Bend, Ind., for Notre Dame's Fightin' Irish Gridiron Classic at the Warren Golf Course.
Final Team Standings
1. Ohio State 306-286-289 = 881
2. Northwestern 292-291-299 = 882
3. Coastal Carolina 294-290-300 = 884
4. Michigan State 295-293-301 = 889
5. Tennessee 298-293-299 = 890
UC Davis 303-294-293 = 890
7. Indiana 298-298-299 = 895
8. Lamar 304-297-301 = 902
9. MICHIGAN 305-307-304 = 916
10. Toledo 308-297-315 = 920
11. Marquette 308-307-306 = 921
12. Eastern Michigan 316-302-313 = 931
13. DePaul 308-301-323 = 932
14. Harvard 310-317-307 = 934
15. Florida Atlantic 328-310-320 = 958
Top Individuals
1. John Callahan, Northwestern 69-74-69 = 212* (-1)
2. Ben Wheeler, Coastal Carolina 72-72-69 = 213
3. Hugo Menendez, Indiana 73-73-70 = 216
4. Matthew Moseley, Michigan State 75-68-74 = 217
5. CHRIS O'NEILL, U-M 72-72-74 = 218
Jack Perry, Northwestern 72-72-74 = 218
Sebastian Soderberg, Coastal Carolina 71-73-74 = 218
8. Matt Hansen, UC Davis 73-73-73 = 219
Nicholas Losole, Northwestern 70-73-76 = 219
Max Rosenthal, Ohio State 77-72-70 = 219
Chris Selfridge, Toledo 75-73-71 = 219
Other Michigan Individuals
T46. Matt Alessi 76-78-77 = 231
T55. Miguel Echavarria 77-81-76 = 234
T63. Noori Hyun 83-78-77 = 238
T73. Brett McIntosh 80-79-83 = 242
82. Matt Felsenfeld 86-81-88 = 255*
* played as individual
N O T E S
• Michigan opened the season playing two tournaments in a span of week of each other -- tying for ninth at the Inverness Intercollegiate (Sept. 17-18) and finishing ninth at the Windon Memorial Classic (Sept. 23-24).
• A freshman has led U-M in each of the first two tournaments of the season -- Brett McIntosh, tying for third at Inverness, and Chris O'Neill, tying for fifth at the Windon Memorial.
• Chris O'Neill posted back-to-back career-best single-round totals of one-over 72, helping him to a career-best 218 54-hole event total.
• Matt Alessi and Noori Hyun each tallied a season-best 54-hole tournament totals of 231 and 238, respectively.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Chris Whitten
On thoughts of the Windon Memorial Classic ... "The golf course played really well I thought. Actually, our first two tournaments -- at Inverness and here at Windon -- were really great courses in tough conditions. These two events are going to be good experiences that are going to help us later in the year. Especially for our new players because it is an introduction to what we need to be prepare for. The weather was really changing this week. The winds changed direction from the end of play yesterday and to how it was this morning. It was really, really different. The guys have and had to adjust and just really take what the course gave them."
On Chris O'Neill's performance and getting early contributions from the freshmen ... "It is awesome to get big contributions from guys immediately when they show up on campus. I am excited for them. Chris (O'Neill) and Brett (McIntosh) are both pretty experienced players. I am sure they are happy with the way they have played (over the last two events). Today, Chris was out there trying to win the golf tournament. He wasn't just enjoying the good shots. He was trying to take it as low as he could. They want to get better and that is what is going to push the other guys and team as a collective to get better each and every week."
On if playing tournaments so close to each other had any effect on the team ... "We are going to get prepared as well as we can whether it is a short layoff or a long layoff. I think the guys were eager to get back out there after Inverness. They wanted to improve on their ball striking. I would say across the board we did swing better this week, it was more the shots around the green that weren't as crisp as we needed. Now we have a longer preparation time for Notre Dame and I know each guy will have a very specific game plan of what he needs to do to get ready for that event."
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
