Men hold on to early lead to win Marshall Invitational

By Jeb Singer

Daily Sports Writer

Michigan men's golf coach Jim Carras was sitting at home yesterday afternoon watching the Masters championships. He witnessed David Duval do what the Michigan team refused to do a day before at the Marshall Invitational in Huntington, W. Virginia - let an opportunity slip away.

The Wolverines fired a four-day total of 877 and outplayed all contenders by four strokes. They also proved to themselves that they are one of the better teams in the country.

"It was big," Carras said of the victory. "They've won before. But only now do they really know how to win."

Unlike Duval, the boys in blue came up strong with the pressure on and a small lead in their pocket. Going into the final day of competition, only eight strokes separated Michigan from Miami (Ohio), the second place team.

Considering that only the top four players scores count, this cushion was far from insurmountable.

"I didn't think that we could lose with an eight shot cushion, but we could have," Carras said. "It was not a given. You have to go out there and play."

The Wolverines did just that. And judging by the results, the players were well aware of the how quickly the tides could change. Andrew Chapman and Mike Afeldt brought their 'A' game to the course Saturday afternoon - each shooting final round 72s in less than ideal weather conditions.

"No one guy wins or loses a tournament," Carras said. "But admittedly, those two scores were rather instrumental."

For Chapman, the 72 equaled his first day performance, and he finished the tournament in a tie for 11th. For Affeldt, the 72 brought his three day total to 217. This secured his claim to second-place overall for the event. Also scoring well for Michigan was captain Michael Harris, whose 218 total score was good enough for a sixth place tie.

While Harris, who has won four of nine tournaments this season, did not play his top golf of the year, he did come up big with the team title waiting in the wings - shooting a final round of 76.

"He knew that his score was going to count and he played the final five holes at one-under par," Carras said.

This weekend, more than at any other point in the spring, exemplified comprehensive team unity and achievement.

"We are peaking as a team right now," Carras said. "This is because we have some real good balance."

It is worth noting that in both tournaments Michigan has won this year, Harris was not the overall tournament medalist. And the same five players will take to the road for the Keplar Invitational next weekend in Columbus.

Michigan has an "if it ain't broke don't fix it policy" - if a squad is able to win a tournament, they are guaranteed to all play in the next tournament.

While Harris, Affeldt, Chapman, Scott Hayes and Andy Matthews will retain their positions, the boys at home will have a couple more opportunities to outshoot them and take over their positions. Kyle Kilcherman, Brian Seipke, Nicolas Lossia and Kevin Hinton all have the potential to step up at some point this year and certainly in the future.

"We are not a five-man team," Carras said. "We are a 10-man team in which each guy is as important as the next."

That 10-man team is in position to finish in the top six in District IV and qualify for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships.

Going into this past weekend, the Wolverines were ranked fifth in the region. With the win this weekend, they very well may have taken over fourth place.

"This was a huge step in the right direction," Carras said. "We beat a lot of the teams that we needed to beat."