PALM COAST, Fla. – The Penn State men's golf team finished as runner up for the second time in four years after losing a tough tiebreaker to No. 1 seed and 2020 Big Ten Match Play champion Northwestern Saturday. The Nittany Lions advanced to the championship of Big Ten Match play after a win in the tiebreaker vs. Maryland Saturday morning at Hammock Resort in Palm Coast, Florida.
"What an awesome effort by our team," said Penn State men's golf coach Greg Nye. "All six guys contribute on the scoreboard and in so many other ways. They are unified and that can impact outcomes, and in this tournament, it mattered."
"Our opponent in the finals was the top seed and came off a huge battle in the morning round vs. Maryland. For out team to turn around quickly, and after an emotional win and refocus took a very special effort to take Northwestern to the wire like we did."
Bard (1 up), McHugh (2&1) and Clark (3&1) were awarded full points vs. Northwestern, but the Wildcats posted three points and won the tiebreaker to claim the championship.
Juniors Louis Olsakovsky (Upper St. Clair, Pa.) won 4&2 and James McHugh (Rye, N.Y.) was 1-up to score full points for the Nittany Lions vs. Maryland in the morning session. Junior Lucas Clark (Holland, Pa.) and freshman Jimmy Meyers (Wexford, Pa.) earned half points to help Penn State advance.
The Big Ten Network will broadcast the 2020 Big Ten Match Play Championship, which includes interviews of the Nittany Lions, on Sunday, March 1 at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Keep up to date with the latest information about the Nittany Lion Men's Golf team on Twitter at @PennStateMGolf and Facebook. Follow Coach Greg Nye on Instagram at @CoachNyePSU.
