University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Look to Capture Big Ten Championship in Columbus
4/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
The Preview
The University of Minnesota men’s golf team returns to The Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio for the 2007 Big Ten Men’s Golf Championships. The Scarlet Course has special meaning for the Golden Gopher Golf program, it was the site of the 2002 National Championship won by the Gophers, the program’s only national title. The Gophers are led by three-time All-American Bronson La’Cassie. La’Cassie was the 2006 winner of the Les Bolstad Award (lowest scoring average) and finished tied for sixth at the NCAA Championships last June. Last summer, La’Cassie won the prestigious Western Amateur by defeating Oklahoma State’s Pablo Martin in the final. But the Gophers are far from a one-man show. Minnesota’s other All-American is senior Niall Turner. Turner leads the team with a 72.4 stroke average and has registered four top-10 finishes this season. Turner has been the Gophers’ most consistent golfer all year and heads into the Championships as the leader for this season’s Bolstad Award. Junior Clayton Rask has fond memories of last season’s Big Ten Championships. The Elk River, Minn., native was named 2006 All-Big Ten Tournament after finishing fifth last season. This is Rask’s time of year with a career stroke average of 72.64 in postseason tournaments. The fourth starter is sophomore Victor Almstrom. This is Almstrom’s second go-round through the postseason events, he played in all three postseason tournaments as a redshirt freshman last season. Rounding out the Maroon and Gold lineup is freshman Ben Pisani. Pisani was named Big Ten Golfer of the Week back on March 2 and has posted three top-30 finishes in his first season.
Last Time Out
The University of Minnesota men's golf team lost the U.S. Intercollegiate tournament title on a tiebreaker to the top-ranked Stanford Cardinal on Sunday in Palo Alto, Calif. Both teams finished with a three-round total of 2-under-par 838, but the Cardinal won the title calculated by the three-day total of the throw-out score for each round. Stanford's total was 219 and the Gophers was 223.
The Gophers fired a tournament-best 3-under 277 in the final round, but it wasn't enough to overtake Stanford who led the Gophers by five strokes heading into Sunday's final round. The tournament was a two-horse race on the par 70, 6,742-yard Stanford Golf Course with the Cardinal and Gophers out-distancing third-place Oregon State by 22 shots.
Minnesota was led by senior All-American Bronson La'Cassie who finished second to Stanford's Ryan Grube by two strokes for the individual title. La'Cassie finished at 6-under 204 after firing the day's best round, a 67, on Sunday. La'Cassie made only one bogey on the day, unfortunately, on the 18th hole. The second-place finish ties a career high for La'Cassie and his three-round score of 204 marks a new career 54-hole score. In addition, La'Cassie's 204 ties for the third-best 54-hole score in Gopher Golf history. James McLean fired a 204 twice in his career, May 2-3, 1998, at the Spartan Invitational and Sept. 18-19, 1998 at the Northern Intercollegiate.
Junior Clayton Rask recorded his highest finish since last season's Big Ten Tournament with a tie for seventh at 1-over 211. Rask fired a 69 Sunday and tied with teammate Niall Turner. Turner carded a final round 70 to finish at 211. Both recorded career low 54-hole scores as well.
Sophomore Victor Almstrom finished tied for 12th at 3-over 213 firing a final round 71. Almstrom's 68 in round one was a career low. Freshman Thomas Campbell, playing in only his second collegiate event, finished tied for 46th at 12-over 222. Campbell carded a solid 74 on Sunday.
The Gophers are off until the Big Ten Championships, hosted by Ohio State at the Scarlet Course, on April 27-29.
Big Ten Tournament History
The Golden Gophers have won six Big Ten team titles (1929, 1938, 1963, 1972, & 2002, 2003). After a 30-year drought, Minnesota won two straight in 2002 and 2003. Last season, the Gophers shot rounds of 285-283-286 (-10) finishing fourth, seven shots behind tournament champ Indiana.
In 2003, the Gophers earned their first back-to-back Big Ten Championships in school history, winning the 2003 tournament with a final round of 7-under-par 277 for a 72-hole total of 1122 (-14). The Golden Gophers overcame a six-stroke deficit heading into the final day to win the event by six with Illinois finishing at 8-under 1128.
Senior Matt Anderson became the fifth Gopher to win a Big Ten individual title in 2003. Anderson fired a 67 in the final round to place first with a total of 276 (-8). His four-round score tied the second lowest 72-hole total in Minnesota history. The Golden Gophers had not taken both the team and individual crowns since 1972.
Minnesota Individual Big Ten Medalists -- Les Bolstad in 1929; Bill Brask in 1968; Dave Haberle in 1971 and John Harris in 1974; Matt Anderson, 2003.
Players Mentioned
