Feb. 13, 2009
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. - The first annual Big Ten Match Play Championship began with a morning fog delay that later got under way at the par 72, 7,268-yard Heron Bay Golf Club in Coral Springs, Fla. The Nittany Lions lost in the first round to Northwestern in a tough 3-3 tiebreak loss. After the defeat Penn State played in match No. 8 of the day against Minnesota, who fell to Purdue early Friday morning.
In round one, Penn State and Northwestern each won two matches before the final two ended in a tie after 18 holes of play. Penn State and Northwestern were knotted at 3-3, leaving the match to be decided by a total point tiebreak based on how many holes each competitor won by, giving Northwestern a 6-3 tiebreak victory.
Nittany Lion junior Kevin Foley (Sommerville, N.J.) and Northwestern's David Lipsky battled to the bitter end of their No. 1 seed match. The two were even throughout the entire match concluding at all square after 18 holes. Junior T.J. Howe (Osceola, Pa.) started out strong leading Jonathan Bowers by two strokes on the 15th hole, but Bowers battled back to tie up a match that would conclude as an all-square tie.
Lion senior Chad Bricker (Waynesboro, Pa.) defeated Matt Denison in a tight match that was won on the 18th hole. Penn State's Jim Markovitz (Bridgeville, Pa.) eventually held off Josh Dupont in a 2-1 victory for the Nittany Lions.
"The guys played with a lot of heart today," said head coach Greg Nye. "They all played extremely well knowing that we were already one man short."
Freshmen Nick Archambault (St-Jean-Sur-Rich, Q.C., Canada) was forced to withdraw from play because of the flu, giving Northwestern's Andy DeKeuster the win. Sophomore Tommy McDonagh (Wilton, Conn.) lost a 6-5 match to Eric Chun who earned the Wildcats six tiebreak points.
The Nittany Lions beat out Minnesota in the first round of consolation play on Friday afternoon.
"We only gave up one point against Minnesota because the guys has such a great turn around from the morning," said Nye. "Tommy had a great turn around and Kevin is playing some very difficult competitors."
In that match, All-American Foley squared-off against Ben Pisani, which proved to be a battle till the end and concluded in a tie, Foley's second of the day. McDonagh defeated Andy Paulson of Minnesota and Markovitz defeated Yu Katayma. Bricker also defeated his opponent Thomas Campbell, making him 2-0 for the day. Markovitz and Bricker were the only Nittany Lions to win both of their matches.
"Chad and Jim played some great golf out there today with focus and consistency," said Nye.
Archambault was forced to withdraw for the second time due to illness while Howe dropped a tough 18 holes to Derek Chang.
"We checked on Nick later in the day and it was evident that he still wasn't well enough to compete," said Nye. "He looked better tonight after he got some food in him, so it looks like he will be participating tomorrow."
The Nittany Lions will take on No. 40 Ohio State in a 12:30 p.m. tee-time. Foley, ranked 24th nationally, will face his toughest competitor yet as he goes up against No. 18 Vaughn Snyder. Ohio State played one round Friday, falling to Wisconsin.
Live scoring can be found at www.nusports.com.