HARRIS, Mich.----Heading into the final round of the Island Resort Collegiate on Labor Day Morning, there was very little doubt with of the twelve teams in the event would take away the team trophy.
The University of Michigan Wolverines held a 15-stroke lead, so anything short of a major collapse would see the Maize and Blue take the trophy back to Ann Arbor.
But there was a major battle at the top of the leaderboard for the individual medalist honors, with three men tied for the lead and seven others within six strokes of first place.
Michigan rolled to the team championship, shooting a 54-hole total of 823, good for 41 under par. That was a whopping 25 strokes ahead of the runners-up, West Virginia, which finished with 848 strokes (-16). The North Texas Mean Greens were third (851, -13), and St, Mary's (California) and Central Florida tied for fourth (852, -12).
Individually, two Wolverine golfers finished in first and second place. Junior R.J. Arone, competing at Sage Run for the third straight year, won his first collegiate tournament, carding a three-round total of 202, good for 14 under par.
Arone's teammate, Spencer Shropshire, was runner-up, two strokes back at 204. (Both pictured at left, courtesy Michigan Photography)
Ten other golfers finished within nine strokes of Arone, and two of them were from Michigan, giving the Wolverines four men in the top 12 positions.
There were 12 NCAA Division One schools at this tournament, which has been hosted by South Dakota State University here in the UP for seven years.
The tournament was started by Upper Peninsula native Casey VanDamme, who coached at SDSU and now coaches women's golf at Kent State University.
ISLAND RESORT TEAM LEADERBOARD
1. Michigan 823 (-41)
2. West Virginia 848 (-16)
3. North Texas 851 (-13)
4. St. Mary's (Calif.) 852 (-12)
4. Central Florida 852 (-12)
6. Ball State 857 (-7)
7. Marquette 862 (-2)
8. South Dakota State 864 (E)
9. Kansas City 867 (+3)
10. Miami (Ohio) 869 (+5)
11. Boise State 874 (+10)
12. Virginia Commonwealth 876 (+12)
ISLAND RESORT INDIVIDUAL TOP TEN
1. RJ Arone (Michigan) 66-67-69 =202 (-14)
2. Spencer Shropshire (Michigan) 69-67-68=204 (-12)
3. Vinny Cervantes (Marquette) 68-65-72=205 (-11)
3. Samuel Baumuller (St. Mary's) 66-67-72=205 (-11)
5. Camden Goldknopf (Central Florida) 68-70-68 =206 (-10)
6. Happy Gilmore (Ball State) 69-72-66= 207 (-9)
7. Nicholas Turowski (West Virginia) 70-67-72=209 (-7)
7. Trevor Garus (Boise State) 70-69-70=209 (-7)
9. Ryan Leach (West Virginia) 68-73-69=210 (-6)
9. Dean Muratore (Michigan) 69-70-71=210 (-6)
STORY COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ATHLETICS
For the first time in 18 years, the University of Michigan men's golf team posted back-to-back team victories, adding the program's first back-to-back individual medalists to complete a historic weekend at Sage Run Golf Club.
The Wolverines carded a 276 (-12) final-round total today (Monday, Sept. 7), finishing at 823 (-41) to cruise to the Island Resort Intercollegiate title by 25 shots. Junior RJ Arone captured his first collegiate title with a career-low 202 (-14), while freshman Spencer Shropshire was the runner-up at 204 (-12) leading three Wolverines among the top 10.
After opening the fall with a career-best tie for third, Arone took command at Sage Run. His 202 (-14) tied for the fourth-lowest 54-hole total in program history, as he recorded just two bogeys across 54 holes to go with 16 birdies and 36 pars. He opened with a 66 (-6), added a 67 (-5) and closed with a 69 (-3).
Michigan's victory follows last weekend's season-opening title at the Virtues Intercollegiate, marking its first back-to-back team wins on consecutive weekends since September 2008, when the Wolverines won the Wolf Run Intercollegiate and Wolverine Invitational.
The Island Resort triumph is the seventh team title under head coach Zach Barlow, while Arone's victory represents the program's 13th individual medalist crown during his tenure.
Arone and Shropshire also gave Michigan its first outright 1-2 individual finish since the 2021 Macdonald Cup, when Will Anderson won and Hunter Thomson was runner-up. Michigan last had two players sharing the top spot at the 2023 Virtues Intercollegiate, when Ben Hoagland and Yuqi Liu were co-medalists.
In his first collegiate start, Shropshire came out firing, playing his opening nine holes at 4-under before closing with a 69 (-3) in the first round. He followed with a career-low 67 (-5) to sit fourth after the opening day at 136 (-8). Saving his best for last, Shropshire carded a bogey-free 68 (-4) in the final round, recording 14 pars and four birdies to earn a runner-up finish at 204 (-12).
Fresh off his season-opening victory at the Virtues Intercollegiate, junior Nilay Naik tied for 11th with a 211 (-5) total. Junior Dean Muratore finished two spots ahead of Naik, tying for ninth at 210 (-6).
Sophomore Jordan Hwang (74-73-68) helped all five Wolverine starters finish under par, tying for 23rd at 215 (-1). Competing as individuals, freshman Mackey Beckett tied for 15th at 213 (-3), junior Johnny Solis (72-72-72) tied for 27th at even-par 216 and Nicolas Simon tied for 53rd at 221 (+5).
STORY COURTESY OF WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
The West Virginia University golf team shot 16-under-par to earn a runner-up finish at the Island Resort Collegiate at Sage Run Golf Club in Bark River, Michigan, on Monday.
Three Mountaineers finished in the top 13 in the individual race. Nick Turowski tied for seventh place, Ryan Leach tied for ninth place and Jack Michael tied for 13th place to lead the Mountaineers.
Turowski posted rounds of 70-67-72=209 to shoot 7-under-par for WVU. Leach finished one shot behind at -6 with rounds of 68-73-69=210, and Michael finished -4 after shooting 74-68-70=212.
Aidan Dortch shot 1-under-par in the final round to tie for 32nd place with rounds of 74-72-71=217 (+1). Gabe Schmitz shot even par on the final day and finished with rounds of 76-76-72=224 (+8). Michael Shivers competed as an individual and tied for 27th place with rounds of 71-74-71=216 (Even).
