PALM COAST, Fla. – The Penn State men's golf team earned a win and a tie on the second day of the Big Ten Match Play Championship at Hammock Beach Resort. The Nittany Lions took fifth place in the event after defeating top-seeded Northwestern 3-2 Saturday afternoon. Penn State tied No. 2 seed Minnesota 2-2-1 in the morning match, but won the tiebreaker to move on.
Graduate student Alec Bard (New Hartford, New York) won all three of his matches in bracketed play this weekend. Bard was tied on his first hole and then built his lead to the 4&2 final against the Golden Gophers in the morning match.
Tied for the first four holes against Northwestern, Bard took a lead on the next three before another tie on his eighth hole. He grabbed the lead again and held it to the 3&2 final.
From Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, graduate student Ryan Davis picked up a win against the Wildcats, 3&2, battling through six ties in the final nine holes. Senior Lou Olsakovsky (Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania), fended off Northwestern after ties on his sixth, eighth, 10th and 11 holes for a 2&1 win.
Penn State begins tournament play next weekend at the Florida Gators Invitational, Friday-Sunday, Feb. 12-14 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida.
