Sept. 24, 2009
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - After a two-week hiatus from competition, the Baylor men's golf team will head to Michigan for the 2009 Wolverine at Radrick Farms hosted by the University of Michigan.
The 54-hole tournament will be held at the par-72, 6,979-yard Radrick Farms Golf Course. Play will commence with 36 holes on Sat., Sept. 26, beginning with a shotgun start at 7:30 a.m. CT. The final 18 holes will begin with a shotgun start at 7:30 a.m. CT on Sun., Sept. 27. Live scoring for each round will be available online at www.GolfStat.com.
In addition to Baylor and host Michigan, the 14-team field includes Arkansas, Eastern Michigan, Iowa State, Louisville, Marshall, Miami (Ohio), Minnesota, Purdue, St. John's, Toledo, Wisconsin and Xavier. The Bears will be paired with Arkansas and Michigan for Saturday's rounds.
For the third consecutive tournament, Baylor head men's golf coach Greg Priest will employ the five-golfer lineup of juniors Payne Gniewek and Cody Paladino and sophomores Morten Bergan, Joakim Mikkelsen and Lorenzo Scotto.
"The Wolverine will be the third tournament for this lineup," Priest said. "We are looking to improve this week and put ourselves in a position to win this tournament."
Baylor's participation at the Wolverine will serve as a homecoming of sorts for Trenton, Mich., native Gniewek, who grew up approximately 40 miles from Ann Arbor. Gniewek played collegiately for two years at Big Ten member Michigan State, where he posted five top-10, seven top-15 and 11 top-25 finishes in 18 events.
At the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate earlier this month, Gniewek, Mikkelsen and Bergan each finished in the top 25 to help the Bears to a fourth-place finish (4-over 868). Gniewek leads all Bears with a 71.67 stroke average through six rounds, followed by Mikkelsen at 72.33. Scotto is currently third on the team with a 73.50 stroke average. Gniewek, Mikkelsen and Scotto have all recorded at least one round in the 60s this season.
"Our goal is to improve each time out," Priest said. "Hopefully, the guys are starting to get comfortable with one another, relax and have fun playing together."
This weekend's trip to Michigan will be Baylor's final out-of-state tournament of the fall season. The Bears return to Texas for the Lone Star Challenge Oct. 18-19 and the Baylor-hosted Baylor Intercollegiate Oct. 26-27.
