Wolverines close own Invitational in fourth

By Nick Kacher

For the Daily

Golf is hard enough when it is just you, the ball and the hole.

Add 65 guys from 13 teams all trying to gain top honors and it gets a little bit harder. Then to top it off, mother nature decides to send a bitter-cold temperature and a gusty wind, which is enough to send the average golfer running to the clubhouse. This is what the golf team had to face this weekend. The Wolverines played host to the 2000 Wolverine North Invitational at the University Golf Course. Thirteen teams consisting mainly of schools from the Big Ten and Mid-American Conferences came to Ann Arbor in hopes of walking away champions.

In the end it was the Minnesota that came out on top in the team race and they also boasted the individaul winner, in Wilhelm Schauman. Toledo and Miami, Ohio rounded out the top three finishers while Michigan finished fourth. The Wolverines had a promising start to the weekend, after posting a low enough first round score to put them in second place.

Scott Carlton, a redshirt freshman, posted the low score for Michigan, shooting a two-under par sixty-nine.

The afternoon round was not as successful a campaign for the Wolverines. The team dropped to sixth place after all five Wolverines signed scorecards in the mid-seventies.

Sunday, however, the team battled through harsh conditions and was able to move up a couple of spots on the leader board, ultimately finishing in fourth place for the touranment. Junior Andy Matthews was impressed with the team's play.

"The conditions were tough today, and all the tees were back, but we put together a solid round," he said.

Coach Jim Carras was pleased with his team's overall performance and he likes the direction the team is headed in.

"In order for us to be successful, we need to have younger guys pushing the older guys," Carras said. "That is exactly what is happening."

Carras was particularly pleased with Carlton's performance, when the redshirt freshman finished as Michigan's top overall scorer.

"It was very enlightening to see Scott play so well in his first varsity tournament," Carras said. "I am very happy for him."