Tanglewood could be just what the Dr. ordered for men's golf

After a two-week hiatus, the Michigan men's golf team returns to action this weekend at the Dr. Pepper Tanglewood Intercollegiate in Pottsboro, Texas.

This will be the first meet for the Wolverines since the Miami (Ohio) Invitational in Ocala, Fla. on Mar. 13-14. This tournament's field will include some of the nation's elite programs and every Big Ten school but Ohio State.

"We haven't had much of a chance to compete yet this season, so we don't really know how we stack up," Michigan coach Jim Carras said. "We mixed up our team every week last fall, and we have a different team from fall to now. The other schools will probably be in a similar situation.

"We saw some of these teams last fall, but it'll still be a good preview of what we're about this year. It's going to be interesting."

Coming off of a 12th-place tie with Louisville in Florida, Carras felt that the Wolverines needed to show more consistency in order to continue improving.

"In Florida, our biggest problem was that a player would shoot well in one round and then struggle in the other round," Carras said. "For example, Scott Hayes shot 75-81, and Andy Matthews shot 72-82. We need to balance our scoring properly."

Despite the inconsistency, Carras said he feels that the team gained momentum and confidence from their experience in the Sunshine State. He attributed this to a team meeting the Wolverines had during that meet. Captain Mike Harris implored his teammates to push themselves harder.

"We cleared the air on some things that I felt the guys needed to focus on," Carras said. "The captain said some things that were very profound. We emphasized that the guys need to make a strong commitment to the team in order for us to keep moving up."

Carras said that he expects the Tanglewood Invitational, with its field of teams from around the country, will be one of the tougher meets that the Wolverines will compete in during the spring season. Despite the tough competition, Carras expects a solid effort from his young team.

"If as many Southwest Conference teams show up as they've been saying, then it'll be a very strong field," Carras said. "From here on in, we'll be playing mostly teams from the Midwest, and we'll need to play well to make it to NCAA Regionals.

"I'm very confident in this team. The best thing for us at this meet will be to improve individually and as a team. I've told our guys that if we keep improving, we'll be a competitive squad by the end of the year."

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