The Michigan State Spartans rolled through another Regional Tournament en route to qualifying for the National Championships at Crystal Springs Resort in New Jersey.
The Spartans dominated at Lake Forest finishing with a 141-stroke victory of the closest competitors, University of Michigan - Flint. Sparty held a 79 stroke lead overnight, and showed no signs of letting up on sunday. They finished with a two day total of 821 (412-409), followed by UofM Flint with a team total of 962 (491-471), and then Kettering University with a 998 (497-501) in their first tournament with NCCGA.
Individually, Matt Chalberg of Hillsdale college earned his second consecutive medalist honors with a score of 159 (78-81). Matt will await the announcements for individual qualifiers for Nationals to see if his season will continue. Rounding out the all tournament team were:
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Mike Balcom, MSU - 162 (84-78)
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Eric Goeble, MSU - 163 (78-85)
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Zach Hoops, Ferris St. - 165 (81-84)
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Brandon Cameron - MSU - 165 (81-84)
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Brady Greenman - MSU - 166 (84-82)
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Charlie Inman - MSU - 167 (85-82)
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Brad Mitzer - Hillsdale - 169 (82-87)
The players had to deal with windy conditions both days, raising scores. Winds increased to 30 mph on Sunday in front of a storm front which cancelled round two due to snow in the North regional. As countless players said coming into the clubhouse, “the balls were literally coming back at us,” at times due to high winds. The only saving grace of the weekend was unseasonably warm temperatures. On Saturday, it reached 70 by the 10:30 start time with sun all day, and Sunday topped out at 78. All of this came after there was still snow on the course just six days before, along with significant accumulation Monday after the tournament. Not that the regional season has closed out, it seems like winter is back. We truly did fit the tournaments in at the perfect time!
***Contact RC Andrew Hartman @NCCGAMidwest.
