Harris shoots six-under to share title, Blue putts in sixth

'Land of 10,000 lakes,' is Minnesota's claim to fame, but it does come with a price. Between the humidity of summer and the abundance of mosquitoes, which gravitate to the area's mass-precipitation, the eleven Big Ten teams that made their way to Minnesota's Les Bolstad Golf Course this weekend found a perfectly inviting, yet challenging setting for this year's Big Ten Golf Championships.

The 72-hole, three-day tournament offered Michigan, who has struggled as of late, one last chance to redeem its season. And after Friday's opening-round of play the Maize and Blue appeared ready to do just that, firing a 290 team score - only three strokes behind favored Minnesota.

But that didn't last long as Minnesota quickly opened up a 17-stroke lead after the first day of competition. The Wolverines took a cue from Minnesota and started to act more like gophers. They proceeded to dig a hole after every round, each deeper than the one before.

While most of the Michigan golf team was busy swatting mosquitoes and acting like gophers, there was one Michigan linkster who decided to act like a Wolverine.

Junior Michael Harris was too busy swatting Titleists to worry about Gophers. He proceeded to shoot better than the course par of 71 in each of the weekends' four rounds of play. Michigan's captain finished an impressive six-under par 278 to capture a share of the Big Ten individual title along with Illinois' Larry Nuger.

"Mike was a stud," Michigan coach Jim Carras said. "He was a gold medalist out there."

Harris and his teammates completed the tournament in sixth place, 29 strokes behind ultimate champion Northwestern. Harris' masterful play helped him nail down a spot on the all-championship and all-conference team, while freshman Andrew Matthew's performance helped him earn the Big Ten freshman of the year honors.

Carras, although a bit disappointed with his teams inconsistency this year had some parting words after the tournament regarding the future of this young squad. "This team is going to be very, very competitive next year. I promise you that."

05-17-99