Feb. 13, 2009
CORAL SPRINGS, FL – The Iowa men’s golf team dropped a match to the University of Michigan this morning in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Match Play Championships. The 37th ranked Wolverines won the dual 4-2 over the 43rd ranked Hawkeyes at Heron Bay Country Club in Coral Springs, FL.
Iowa’s lone win came from freshman Barrett Kelpin with a 5 and 4 victory over Michigan’s Nick Pumford. Sophomores Vince India and Brad Hopfinger both halved their matches (Bill Rankin and Alexander Sitompul respectively). Senior Cole Peevler lost his match to Lion Kim, 3 and 2. Additionally, freshman Brad George lost 2 and 1 to Matt Thompson while freshman Chris Brant dropped a close match to Ross Millman, 1-up.
In a dual that was decided by just a few strokes, Iowa head coach Mark Hankins was happy with his golfers, but would have liked to see more.
“I thought we played well today but we didn’t look ready to compete,” Hankins said. “In a conference like the Big Ten, you can’t play average and expect success. We have two more matches tomorrow where we need to come out focused and finish strong.”
Iowa will face Northwestern on the backside of the bracket at 7:30 a.m. (CT) Saturday. Northwestern beat Penn State during the first round in a 3-3 tie that went to criteria. They then lost to top-seeded Illinois 4-2. Illinois takes on Michigan and Michigan State faces Indiana in the semifinals Saturday morning. To track live scoring, visit NUsports.com.