Men's Golf Advances to Yestingsmeier Match Play Finals

Complete Results.

Bracket.

DADE City, Fla. (EMUEagles.com) — Could the first day of the Eastern Michigan University men's golf team spring season get any better? Competing in the Earl Yestingsmeier Match Play Tournament Monday, Feb. 8, the Eagles went 2-0 on the day to advance to tomorrow's championship match versus the second-seeded Fighting Irish of the University of Notre Dame on the par 72, 7,153 yard Lake Jovita Golf Course.

The fifth-seeded Eagles, who finished tied for first last season and second at the 2012 and 2014 events, defeated No. 4 Xavier University on tiebreakers in the opening round. They then edged No. 1 seeded Miami University, 4-2, in the champions bracket in the afternoon.

Five of the six Eagles contributed points in the two matches, with junior Kyle Rodes (Plymouth, Mich.-Plymouth) and Philippe Weppernig (Lucerne, Switzerland-Kantonsschule Alpenquai Luzern-Owens C.C.) each coming away with a 2-0 record on the day.

In the five years of the event, Head Coach Bruce Cunningham's crew has posted a 10-3 record in match play.

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.

In the opening round, the Eagles and Musketeers actually finished tied at 3-3. However, Eastern Michigan advanced in the championship bracket by the tiebreaker of total holes won over Xavier.

The Eagles' Brett White (Caledonia, Mich.-East Kentwood) took a 4-and-3 decision over Daniel Wetterich, while Rodes earned a 2-and-1 victory over David Long. Weppernig upended Matt Wetterich, 5&4, but Nic Ross (Dundas, Ontario, Canada-Highland Secondary), Beau Breault (Howell, Mich.-Hartland) and Joey Kremer (Toronto, Ontario, Canada-Senator O'Connor) each fell in their matches.

Since the match finished in a 3-3 tie, a tiebreaker needed to be employed to determine who advanced. Because EMU won its three matches by a total of eight holes, compared to XU winning its three matches by a total of six holes, the Green and White were declared the victor.

In other first round action, No. 1 Miami defeated No. 8 Ohio, 3.5-2.5, No. 3 Toledo bested Dayton, 3.5-2.5, and No. 2 UND advanced past No. 7 Ball State on tiebreakers.

In the semifinals, the top-seeded RedHawks got on the board first with a 2&1 victory by Patrick Flavin over White. However, the Green and White would roll off three straight wins by Ross, Rodes and Weppernig to take the advantage in the match. The defending MAC Tournament Champions would pull closer on a 1-up decision by Bud Radis over Breault, but Kremer closed out the EMU win with a 4&2 defeat of Daniel Schwarz to send EMU to the championship round with a 4-2 decision.

Live scoring for Tuesday's rounds are available at Golfstat.com.

2016 Earl Yestingsmeier Match Play Challenge

Round 1 - Quarterfinals:
#5 Eastern Michigan 3, #4 Xavier 3 (combined margin of victory in individual matches)
Brett White (EMU) def. Daniel Wetterich (XU), 4&3
Jose Montano(XU) def. Nic Ross (EMU), 2&1
Kyle Rodes (EMU) def. David Long (XU), 2&1
Fox Morrissey (XU) def. Beau Breault (EMU), 2&1
Philippe Weppernig (EMU) def. Matt Wetterich (XU), 5&4
Matt Gerard (XU) dec. Joey Kremer (EMU), 5&4

#1 Miami def. #8 Ohio, 3.5-2.5
#3 Toledo def. #6 Dayton, 3.5-2.5
#2 Notre Dame vs. #7 Ball State, halved 3-3*

Round 2 - Semifinals:
#5 Eastern Michigan 4, #1 Miami 2
Patrick Flavin (MIA) def. Brett White (EMU), 2&1
Nic Ross (EMU) def. Jack Sparling (MIA), 2-up
Kyle Rodes (EMU) def. Greg Conrad (MIA), 1-up
Bud Radis (MIA) def. Beau Breault (EMU), 1-up
Philippe Weppernig (EMU) def. Brian Ohr (MIA), 1-up
Joey Kremer (EMU) def. Daniel Schwarz (MIA), 4&2

#2 Notre Dame vs. #3 Toledo, halved 3-3 (combined margin of victory in individual matches)
#4 Xavier vs. #8 Ohio, halved 3-3 (combined margin of victory in individual matches)
#6 Dayton def. #7 Ball State, 3.5-2.5

Championship Match:
#2 Notre Dame vs. #5 Eastern Michigan

Third-Place Match:
#1 Miami vs. #3 Toledo

Fifth-Place Match:
#6 Dayton vs. #8 Ohio

Seventh-Place Match:
#4 Xavier vs. #7 Ball State

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 six 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

Joey Kremer

Kyle Rodes

Nic Ross

Philippe Weppernig

Brett White

Eastern Michigan Athletics