University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Finish Fall Season at Bridgestone Championship
10/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
BRIDGESTONE CHAMPIONSHIP: The Gophers will conclude the fall portion off their schedule by traveling to North Carolina for the Bridgestone Golf Collegiate Championship at Forest Oaks Golf Course in Greensboro.
The 14-team championship will include seven teams that were participants in the NCAA Tournament last spring in Louisville, Mississippi State, Duke, Michigan State, Memphis, Michigan and Purdue. They will join the host UNC-Greensboro Spartans, Eastern Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Pepperdine, South Alabama and Toledo. Louisville has won two of the last three Bridgestone Championships.
From 1977 through 2007, Forest Oaks was the home of the PGA Tour’s Greater Greensboro Open . The 7,197 yard par 72 course features four par-5s, two on each side, 10 par-4s and four par-3s, three of which are over 200 yards. Originally opened in 1962, it was restored 40 years later by Davis Love III.
GEORGETOWN INTERCOLLEGIATE RECAP: The University of Minnesota golf team placed three players in the top-16 individually and were able to secure its third consecutive top-five finish by placing fourth at the 2008 Georgetown Intercollegiate with a 36-hole score of 604. Miami of Ohio (+22, 590) led the tournament wire-to-wire to defeat William & Mary by five strokes and third place Richmond by nine strokes. The host Georgetown Hoyas finished fifth with a score of 606.
Minnesota was led by senior Yu Katayama, who finished in a seven-player tie for ninth place with a score of 150. Amongst the group of seven golfers was Katayama's teammate Andy Paulson. The Gophers were not able to count Paulson's consecutive rounds of 75 on Monday and Tuesday because he was playing the tournament as an individual. Senior Victor Almstrom and junior Ben Pisani finished in a five-way tie for 16th place with 36-hole scores of 151 while Patrick Datz and Cameron White tied for 36th place at 155.
THE GOPHERS: Minnesota’s lineup will consist of seniors Victor Almstrom and Yu Katayama along with juniors Ben Pisani and Thomas Campbell and freshman Derek Chang.
Almstrom and Pisani lead the Gophers with fall season stroke averages of 73 and, along with Katayama, have played in every tournament for the Gophers this fall. Katayama is coming off a ninth place finish at the Georgetown Invitational, his best finish of the season.
As a team, Minnesota is averaging 294 strokes per round, which broken down individually is just over par at 73.5.
UP NEXT: The Gophers will be off until they open the spring portion of the schedule on Feb. 12-14 at the Big Ten Matchplay tournament in Orlando, Fla. The Gophers will play in five spring events before taking part in the 2009 Big Ten Championships at Penn State University’s Blue Course.
