Feb. 8, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With the launch of the 2010 spring season, the Penn State men's golf team will travel to the sunshine state for the second annual Big Ten Match Play Championships. The two-day tournament will once again be played at The Heron Bay Golf Club in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., on Feb. 12-13. All 11 Big Ten teams will be attending, including the reigning champion, Indiana.
The Nittany Lions representing Penn State at the season opener will be Kevin Foley, Jim Markovitz, Tommy McDonagh, Nick Archambault, Matt Porter and Jason Cohan. Archambault returns to the starting roster after a successful recovery from knee surgery in the 2009 fall season while senior T.J. Howe is out with a broken toe.
"Nick's rehab went well and he is healthy again and we really look forward to his contribution," said head coach Greg Nye. "Although we will miss T.J. Howe, we feel we have capable players inserted into the line up that are ready for the challenge of match play."
The Nittany Lions went 1-1-1 in last year's event. In the first round the Lions tied Northwestern 3-3 but lost the tiebreak. The team rebounded with a convincing 4-2 victory over Minnesota later that day. In their final match the Lions fell to rival Ohio State 5-1.
A senior, Foley closed out the fall season with a team-low average of 71.43, ranked No. 58 in the country and No. 2 in the Big Ten, behind No. 1 Scott Langley of Illinois. The Nittany Lions are No. 74 in the country and No. 5 in the Big Ten.
The Big Ten conference has some heavy hitters ranked among the country's elite including five individuals in the top 100 as of Feb. 7, 2010: No. 23 Langley, No. 58 Foley, No. 66 Luke Guthrie of Illinois, No. 70 Brad Hopfinger of Iowa, and No. 97 Alex Martin of Indiana. The Big Ten also has seven teams represented in the top 100, with Illinois leading the way, ranked No. 7, No. 36 Michigan, No. 42 Iowa, No. 70 Minnesota, No. 74 Penn State, No. 75 Indiana, and No. 79 Ohio State.