University of Minnesota Athletics
Illinois Wins Big Tens; Lipsky medalist
5/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Big Ten Championships Summary:
Team Champion: Illinois (1157, +21)
Runner-up: Iowa (1160, +24)
Big Ten Championships All-Tournament Team:
1. David Lipsky, Northwestern (281, -3)
2. Matt Thompson, Michigan (283, -1)
3. Barrett Kelpin, Iowa (284, E)
4. Luke Guthrie, Illinois (286, +2)
5. Jack Schultz, Michigan (287, +3)
Les Bolstad Big Ten Scoring Champion
Chris DeForest, Illinois
Big Ten Championships Round 4 Notes:
7:56 a.m. – We are just a few minutes from the start of the fourth round of the Big Ten Championships. There's not a cloud in the sky this morning and the temperature is just a shade under 50 degrees. There's relatively light winds in comparison to yesterday's windswept conditions with a steady 7-8 mph breeze. However, there's still plenty of gusts. According to course superintendent Scottie Hines, "There's a few gusts out there that will get your attention." The wind is expected to increase throughout the day and the chances at a low score will likely diminish.
Northwestern, Purdue and Indiana are the first teams out off the first tee while Michigan State and Wisconsin are out off the 10th tee.
9:02 a.m. – Michigan State's Matthew Moseley is the hottest player on the course, carding birdies on 11 and 13 to start -2.
9:43 a.m. – Northwestern's David Lipsky moves into the individual lead with a birdie on the 1st hole. He is -4 for the tournament and has a 1-shot lead on Matt Thompson of Michigan.
9:50 a.m. – Live hole-by-hole scoring is available on golfstat.com.
10:09 a.m. – Nice start by Minnesota's Donald Constable, carding birdies on holes 10-11 to start -2.
10:50 a.m. – Illinois' lead is down to 8 over Michigan with players on holes 3-7. Lipsky and Thompson are the only two individuals under par at -2.
10:52 a.m. – Quick note on the amazing clubhouse cuisine at Windsong. It has been fantastic all weekend, all beginning with the ridiculously tasty fresh turkey, avocado, bacon and tomato boxed lunch sandwiches on Friday. It progressed to great burgers, dogs and chicken on Friday night for the players/volunteers dinner. An over the top cold cut buffet was the featured menu item Saturday with a cauldron of cream of mushroom soup that received rave reviews. The Windsong crew just rolled out an assortment of homemade pizzas for the Sunday afternoon fare. This is all in addition to the constant supply of fruit, bagels, drinks and the award-winning potato chips made on-site.
11:04 a.m. – A tray of monstrous brownies has appeared. I failed to mention the fresh baked chocolate chip cookies that have also scored high marks throughout the weekend.
11:37 a.m. – Lipsky and Thompson have a 3-shot lead at -2 over Barrett Kelpin of Iowa (+1). Lipsky just made the turn to the back nine. Illinois still managing a 10-shot lead in the team race over Michigan.
11:50 a.m. – There are just two players under par to this point during round 4. Purdue's Tyler Duncan is -1 through 11 and Ohio State's Brad Smith is -1 through 8.
12:10 p.m. – Lipsky birdies the par 5 12th hole to move to -3 and a one-shot lead over Thompson. If there is an individual playoff for medalist honors, it will be sudden death format starting on the 16th hole.
12:16 p.m. – Lipsky birdies 13 to take a 2-shot lead.
12:20 p.m. – Northwestern on the back of Lipsky, is putting some heat on Illinois in the team race. They have made up 12 shots to this point and are -2 for the day. Illinois' lead has been trimmed to five shots, the lowest it has been since the first day.
12:37 p.m. – The first eagle of the day goes to Iowa's Brad Hopfinger on the par 5 9th hole.
12:45 p.m. – Lipsky cards his third straight birdie to move to -5 overall and a 3-shot lead. Lipsky birdied 12-13-14.
12:46 p.m. – Chris Deforest of Illinois records an eagle on the par 4 13th. His eagle pushes the Illini lead back to six shots.
1:16 p.m. – A nice gallery of around 30 spectators is following the Lipsky group after he makes par on the 16th. Lipsky hit his tee shot left off of 17. He holds a 3-shot lead on Thompson.
1:24 p.m. – Northwestern's Sam Chien cards a -2 69 today, the best round at this point.
1:31 p.m. – Lipsky ends up with a double bogey on 17 after hitting his tee shot far left. His lead is down to 1 shot over Thompson with the par 5 18th left.
1:51 p.m. – Lipsky is in the clubhouse at -3 with a par on 18. He still holds a 1 shot lead on Thompson who is playing 15. Illinois has a 4-shot lead on the team leaderboard.
2:15 p.m. – Thompson gets up and down from the right bunker to save par on 16 and stay within one of Lipsky.
2:17 p.m. – The wind has really picked up over the last hour. Purdue's Tyler Duncan carded a -2 69 and has the best score in the clubhouse. Iowa's Chris Brant is the only player under par still on the course at -1 through 17 holes.
2:26 p.m. – Illinois has pretty much clinched the team title with a 6-shot lead and Northwestern finished in the clubhouse and the par 5 18th left for most of the players.
2:32 p.m. – Thompson has a bogey on 17 and is two shots shy of Lipsky going to 18.
2:41 p.m. – Iowa's Brad George chips in on 18 for an eagle to finish with a 70.
2:59 p.m. – Illinois takes the team title with a 3-shot win over a hard-charging Iowa. David Lipsky of Northwestern wins the individual medalist award with a 72-hole score of -3. What a run by Iowa and Northwestern on the final day to make it a dramatic finish. Iowa made up 13 shots on Illinois in the final round.
Players Mentioned
