The Eastern Michigan University men’s golf team got off to a great start this season after finishing in third place at the Mid-American Conference Match Play tournament. The tournament was held at the Lake Jovita Golf Course in Dade City, Fla., and was hosted by Ball State University.
The tournament included EMU, Ball State, Akron, Toledo, Miami (Ohio), Bowling Green, Northern Illinois and Ohio universities.
Round one highlights:
EMU and Miami tied with three points each.
• EMU senior Spencer Slade won 4-2 against senior Brett Tomfohrde.
• EMU freshman Stuart Grehan defeated freshman Jack Sparling, 2-1.
• EMU senior Casey Olsen and freshman Josh Heinze both put up great fights to finish square with Miami.
• The Eagles won in the first-round match up, after having to go to a tiebreaker.
Round two highlights:
BSU defeated EMU 4.5 to 1.5.
• EMU junior Brian Churchill-Smith, Slade and Heinze all put up ties against Ball State to put their team on the board.
• EMU put up a great fight against Ball State. However, round two play did not go as smoothly for them as they lost 4.5-1.5.
Round three highlights:
EMU and NIU tied with three points each.
• Olsen defeated sophomore Nick Huggins with a score of 5-4.
• Heinze defeated junior Shawn Foley with a score of 7-5.
• EMU sophomore Brian Burt defeated senior Matt Gorman with a score of 3-2.
EMU won third place in the tournament after winning the third-round tiebreaker.
BGSU won the MAC Match Play championship, defeating Ball State 3.5-2.5.
The EMU women’s team starts Sunday. They will be playing in the Jim West Challenge in Blanco, Texas.
Women’s coach Sandy Wagner is pumped for the upcoming spring season.
“We have a great spring schedule ahead of us, and one that is very competitive,” Wagner said. “I am excited about the season starting because the kids have been working so hard, both with their golf games and with strength and conditioning. Now it is time for us to get on the course and see the success of that.”
Wagner made a point to mention the golfers to look out for this season.
“Our top four golfers, who played in every tournament last fall, should be the nucleus of our spring success,” Wagner said.
“[Senior] Sarah Johnson, [junior] Alyssa Kwon, [senior] Meredith Fairbairn, and [junior] Corey Crossan.”
Wagner hopes to see continued success from Johnson and Kwon.
“Sarah and Alyssa each won a tournament in the fall and are really solid with a total game,” Wagner said. “Meredith works so hard both on and off the course and has really come a long way since her freshman year. She has a tremendous work ethic and will put some low scores in the books this spring.”
A new golfer for the Eagles should also prove to help the team this season.
“Lois Schoof, from the Netherlands, will bring the added depth to the team that it needs to be successful.
“You can expect us to get better from tournament to tournament this year,” Wagner said.
