Men's golf mixes up lineup in attempt to recover from slump

After a rough start to the spring season, the Michigan men's golf team heads for Huntington, W. Va. to compete in this weekend's Marshall Invitational.

The Wolverines will be looking to rebound from consecutive poor outings.

Michigan opened the spring season two weeks ago by placing 13th in the 18-team Dr. Pepper Intercollegiate in Pottsboro, Texas.

The team failed to show significant improvement when it finished 12th among the 20 teams in last weekend's Kentucky Invitational.

Michigan coach Jim Carras said he looks at this weekend's event as a chance for redemption.

"We were very disappointed in the way we played last weekend," Carras said. "We need to go to Marshall and perform well to show the other teams we are not as bad as we have been playing. It's going to be a shootout."

The 20-team, 54-hole event in Huntington this weekend will feature one of the strongest fields of the season, with eight Big Ten participants and many top Mid-American Conference teams competing.

Minnesota, Ohio State, Kent State, Toledo and Miami (Ohio) are considered to be the tournament's favorites in Huntington.

As he has all season, Mike Harris will head the Wolverines' lineup this weekend. Harris, who won two tournaments during the fall season, has posted an average score of 72.68 in his 22 competitive rounds since September.

More recently, Harris is fresh off a fourth-place finish in Kentucky last weekend, where he carded rounds of 70-76-72.

Keith Hinton will also be joining Harris in Huntington.

Hinton, who is the only Wolverine other than Harris to compete in all eight tournaments this year, is also coming off a strong performance last weekend.

His scores of 77-71-73 earned him a 10th-place finish at the Kentucky Invitational, the best scores of his career.

After missing last week's event, Kevin Vernick returns to the lineup this weekend. Vernick's absence from Michigan's lineup was noticeable in Kentucky.

In seven tournaments this year, Vernick has posted an average score of 75.32 in 19 competitive rounds.

While Harris, Hinton and Vernick combine to give Michigan a solid top part of the lineup, Carras has struggled in his efforts to find consistency in the final two spots.

Taking advantage of the good Ann Arbor weather, Carras held a qualifier on Monday and Tuesday - allowing the entire team battle for the final two seats on the plane to West Virginia this weekend.

Ironically, the winners were two players who have yet to play this spring.

Scott Hayes, who played in four tournaments last fall, earned the right to play this weekend.

Despite brief flashes of brilliance in the fall, for the most part Hayes struggled. In his 13 competitive rounds this year, he has posted an average score of 78.

Mike Emanuel also emerged from the qualifier to win a spot in the lineup this weekend.

Emanuel will be playing in his first competitive tournament this year.

But Carras hopes the pressure of this week's qualifier prepared Emanuel and Hayes for the challenge of the Marshall Invitational.

"The qualifiers are as stressful as tournament play, because every shot counts," Carras said.

Michigan heads into the Marshall Invitational in need of a solid performance to build confidence and momentum before the Big Ten Championship, which will be held May 8-10.

04-09-98