STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ¨C The Penn State men¡¯s golf team will compete at the Big Ten Championships Friday, May 3 through Sunday, May 5 at the Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City, IA. The Nittany Lions finished ninth last year and should improve on that performance this year.
Penn State is coming off a record setting performance at the Rutherford Intercollegiate. The Nittany Lions set a new tournament 54-hole record of 859 en route to winning their 11th consecutive Rutherford title.
Jeff Turton (Ithaca, N.Y.) paced the Lions at the Rutherford, winning the individual championship with a new tournament record of 206 (-10).
The Nittany Lions return four golfers who competed at last year¡¯s Big Ten Championship and all are seniors with plenty of collegiate experience. Andy Latowski (Pittsburgh, Pa.) is Penn State¡¯s top returnee tying for 28th at last year¡¯s Championships. Jim Fuller (Muskogee, Okla.), Turton and Josh Dawes (Jacksonville, Fla.) all finished among the top fifty golfers last year.
Penn State will be riding a wave of momentum as they have been playing tremendous golf lately. In their last three tournaments, the Nittany Lions have won two and finished second in a playoff. With Turton¡¯s victory the Lions have also won the individual title in two of those tournaments (Dawes won the Princeton Invitational).
The Lions will also head to Iowa City with the last three Big Ten Golfers of the Week award winners in Dawes, Latowski and Turton. Fuller has been right on the heels of his teammates with three straight top ten finishes.
Northwestern is the defending champion and is a favorite once again this year. Michigan State, Minnesota and Illinois will also contend for the team championship. Penn State has beaten several Big Ten teams during the 2001-2002 season will be in contention for a top five placing.
Tee-times and pairings can be found at www.hawkeyesports.com. Live results will be available through the Iowa website.
2001 Team Results: 1. Northwestern 289-280-284-279=1132 2. Purdue 286-283-285-291=1145 3. Ohio State 289-287-284-291=1151 4. Minnesota 291-291-286-284=1152 5. Iowa 300-292-284-277=1153 6. Michigan State 285-294-292-290=1161 7. Wisconsin 301-287-292-288=1168 Michigan 296-293-294-285=1168 9. Penn State 293-291-289-296=1169 10.Illinois 294-291-291-294=1173 11.Indiana 302-304-305-294=1205 --LIONS--
