Men's Golf Takes Fourth at Yestingsmeier Match Play

DADE CITY, Fla. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's golf team took fourth at the Seventh Annual Earl Yestingsmeier Match Play Event on the par 72, 7,153 yard Lake Jovita Golf Course. The Eagles fell to fourth-seeded Ball State University, 4-2, in a tight third-place match Tuesday, Feb. 13.

Five of the six individual matches went all the way to the final hole. Johnny Watts' match was the only one to be decided early, as he dispatched Beau Breault (Hartland, Mich.-Hartland) 3&2 at the No. 1 position. Senior Tyler Lewis (Ortonville, Mich.-Brandon-Mott CC) pick up EMU's lone win of the day with a 1-up victory over C.J. Jones.

In other matches, top seed Miami and No. 3 seed Toledo played to a 3-3 tie in the championship match. The RedHawks took home the title on a tiebreaker, having won more holes on the day. Ohio defeated Drake the fifth-place match, while DePaul took down Loyola in the seventh-place match.

Schools are competing in teams of six with the seeds determined by their current GolfStat rankings. Each of the six matches is worth one point to the winner. If the competitors end up all-square after 18 holes, each school received ½ point. The school with the most points after the six matches wins.

Unlike stroke play, in which the unit of scoring is the total number of strokes taken over one or more rounds of golf, match play scoring consists of individual holes won, halved or lost. On each hole, the most that can be gained is one point. Golfers play as normal, counting the strokes taken on a given hole. The golfer with the lowest score on a given hole receives one point. If the golfers tie, then the hole is halved. Also, once a player is "up" more holes than there are holes remaining to play the match is over.

The Eagles won the event in 2015 and 2016 while taking second at the 2012 and 2014 events. In the seven years of the event, Head Coach Bruce Cunningham's crew has posted an 14-7 record in match play.

Eastern Michigan will return to action Feb. 25-26 with its first stroke play event of the spring at the Loyola Intercollegiate.

2018 Earl Yestingsmeier Match Play Tournament

Round 1:
No. 2 Eastern Michigan def. No. 7 Ohio, 4-2
Beau Breault (EMU) def. Brady Bohl, 5&4
Ben Sattler (OHIO) def. Nic Ross (EMU), 3&2
Tommy Nettles (OHIO) def. Cougar Collins (EMU), 4&3
Zach Sudinsky (EMU) def. Zach Crawford (OHIO), 3&2
Ty Celone (EMU) def. Austin Dyson (OHIO), 4&3
Tyler Lewis (EMU) def. Tanner Johnson (OHIO), 2&1

No. 1 Miami def. No. 8 Loyola, 5-1
No. 4 Ball State def. No. 5 Drake, 5-1
No. 3 Toledo def. No. 6 DePaul, 4-2

Round 2 - Quarterfinals:
No. 3 Toledo tied No. 2 Eastern Michigan, 3-3 (UT advances on tiebreakers)
Joseph Bryce (TOL) def. Beau Breault (EMU), 3&2
Thomas Thurloway (TOL) def. Nic Ross (EMU), 2&1
Cougar Collins(EMU) def. Stephen Watts (TOL), 2-up
Zach Sudinsky (EMU)    def. Duncan McNeill (TOL), 3&2
Ty Celone (EMU) def. Colin Joseph (TOL), 3&2
Spencer Shoemaker (TOL) def. Tyler Lewis (EMU), 3&2

No. 1 Miami def. No. 4 Ball State, 4-2
No. 7 Ohio def. No. 6 DePaul, 4-1-1
No. 5 Drake def. No. 8 Loyola, 4-1-1

Championship Match
No. 1 Miami tied No. 3 Toledo, 3-3 (MIA wins on tiebreakers)

Third-Place Match
No. 4 Ball State def. No. 2 Eastern Michigan, 4-2
Johnny Watts (BSU) def. Beau Breault (EMU), 3&2
Timothy Wiseman (BSU) def. Nic Ross (EMU), 2-up
Michael VanDeventer (BSU) vs. Cougar Collins (EMU), halved
Jack Cunningham (EMU) def. Zach Sudinsky (EMU), 1-up
Michael Makris (BSU) vs. Ty Celone (EMU), halved
Tyler Lewis (EMU) def. CJ Jones (BSU), 1-up

Fifth-Place Match
No. 7 Ohio def. No. 5 Drake, 4.1-1.5

Seventh-Place Match
No. 6 DePaul def. No. 8 Loyola, 5-1

Tiebreaker System:
Team Matches Tied: Team matches that are tied will be decided by using the following procedure:
- If a team match is tied after the completion of the five singles matches, the tie will be broken by comparing the margin of victory of each individual match won for their team.
- If a team tie still exists, the team winner will be determined by comparing the number of holes remaining in each match won:
- If a team tie still exists, the team winner will be determined by comparing the halved match or matches. These results will be determined by a "scorecard playoff" (scores will be compared by the #1 handicap hole) provided all tied matches have played that hole. Handicap holes will be used until the tie is broken with total scores.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Beau Breault

Ty Celone

Cougar Collins

Tyler Lewis

Nic Ross

Zach Sudinsky

Eastern Michigan Athletics