Eastern Michigan Athletics
Men’s Golf Looks to Hold On To the MAC Championship Crown
4/28/2021 4:18:00 PM | Men's Golf
Eastern Michigan shared the 2019 title with Kent State
Live scoring.
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (EMUEagles.com) – At long last! It has been 733 days since the Eastern Michigan University men's golf team last had an opportunity to play a competitive round at the Mid-American Conference Championship. In 2019, it was the rain that washed away the final round, forcing EMU to share the league's title with Kent State. Meanwhile, we all know too well about the 2020 campaign's abrupt cancellation due to a global pandemic.
With no roadblocks in sight, Head Coach Bruce Cunningham's crew will descend on Sycamore Hills Golf Club, April 30-May 1. Miami University will host the two-day, 54-hole event for the eight MAC schools which sponsor men's golf – Ball State, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami, Northern Illinois, Ohio, and Toledo.
The Eagles enter the tournament with the 13th lowest four-player team scoring average in program history at 297.1. Overall, Eastern Michigan has finished in the top-five at a pair of tournaments this season, including most recently a fifth-place showing at the Git-R-Done Husker Invitational, April 16-17.
Individually, senior Cougar Collins (Caledon, Ontario, Canada-Mayfield Secondary) leads EMU with a 73.71 average. Collins, who is ranked 515th by Golfweek, has seven rounds of par-or-better this season to go along with top-15 finishes. Senior Ty Celone (Long Sault, Ontario, Canada-St Joseph's Catholic) is still on pace for the lowest career scoring average in program history at 73.24, just 0.06 strokes ahead of 2007 MAC Champion Graham Hill's standard of 73.3 set in 2005-08.
The league's men's golf championship will be held at the 7,253-yard, par-72 Sycamore Hills for the second time. The Jack Nicklaus-designed course held the 2018 event in which EMU placed seventh with a cumulative score of 1,245 (312-305-309-319).
The tournament will begin Friday with EMU's tee times starting at 8:30 a.m. Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.
Back in 2019, there was heavy anticipation and buildup for a final round battle between Eastern Michigan University and Kent State for the title. Unfortunately, it was Mother Nature that in the end stole the show, as heavy rains overnight forced the cancellation of the final round at Club Walden.
The Eagles and Golden Flashes shared the team championship, however, Kent State earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships due to tiebreakers. KSU won the cumulative total of non-counting scores by three, 154-151.
The Eagles put together two strong rounds with a 294 in the first round and a one-under 287 for a two-round tally of 581. EMU was six strokes ahead of Kent State after round one, but the Golden Flashes rallied to fire a seven-under 281 to close the gap and tie the cumulative total at 581.
The 2019 title was Eastern Michigan's third all-time MAC men's golf championship after previously earning the trophy in 2007 and 2008.
Kent State is ranked No. 42 in Golfstat's national rankings followed by Toledo (134), Eastern Michigan (141), Ball State (170), Miami (171), Northern Illinois (174), Bowling Green (193), and Ohio (199).
Traveling this weekend for EMU will be Celone, Collins, redshirt junior Zack Mason (Toronto, Ontario, Canada-Blyth Academy Lawrence Park), senior Tyler Rayman (Otsego, Mich.-Otsego), freshman MJ Smith (Rockford, Ill.-Winnebago), and freshman Max Watson (Ashland, Ohio-Ashland).
Regional play for the 2021 Division I Men's Golf Championships will be held May 17-19, with play taking place at The Sagamore Club in Noblesville, Ind., hosted by Ball State; Seminole Legacy Golf Club in Tallahassee, Fla., hosted by Florida State; Championship Course at UNM in Albuquerque, N.M., hosted by New Mexico; Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla., hosted by Oklahoma State; Golf Club of Tennessee in Kingston Springs, Tenn., hosted by Vanderbilt; and Tumble Creek Golf & Country Club in Cle Elum, Wash., hosted by Washington.
Three of the six regional sites will have 13 teams and 10 individuals competing, while three will have 14 teams and five individuals. The top five teams (30 teams total) and the low individual not on an advancing team from each regional site (six individuals total) will advance to the national championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The men's championship will be held May 28-June 2, with GOLF Channel providing live coverage of the final day of individual championship play on May 31 as well as the team match play on June 1-2
MAC Championship - April 30-May 1, 2021
Where: Fort Wayne, Ind. (Sycamore Hills Golf Club)
Format: 36 holes on Friday; 18 holes on Saturday
Par/Yardage: 72/7,253
Field: Ball State, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami, Northern Illinois, Ohio, and Toledo
Lineup: TBA
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (EMUEagles.com) – At long last! It has been 733 days since the Eastern Michigan University men's golf team last had an opportunity to play a competitive round at the Mid-American Conference Championship. In 2019, it was the rain that washed away the final round, forcing EMU to share the league's title with Kent State. Meanwhile, we all know too well about the 2020 campaign's abrupt cancellation due to a global pandemic.
With no roadblocks in sight, Head Coach Bruce Cunningham's crew will descend on Sycamore Hills Golf Club, April 30-May 1. Miami University will host the two-day, 54-hole event for the eight MAC schools which sponsor men's golf – Ball State, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami, Northern Illinois, Ohio, and Toledo.
The Eagles enter the tournament with the 13th lowest four-player team scoring average in program history at 297.1. Overall, Eastern Michigan has finished in the top-five at a pair of tournaments this season, including most recently a fifth-place showing at the Git-R-Done Husker Invitational, April 16-17.
Individually, senior Cougar Collins (Caledon, Ontario, Canada-Mayfield Secondary) leads EMU with a 73.71 average. Collins, who is ranked 515th by Golfweek, has seven rounds of par-or-better this season to go along with top-15 finishes. Senior Ty Celone (Long Sault, Ontario, Canada-St Joseph's Catholic) is still on pace for the lowest career scoring average in program history at 73.24, just 0.06 strokes ahead of 2007 MAC Champion Graham Hill's standard of 73.3 set in 2005-08.
The league's men's golf championship will be held at the 7,253-yard, par-72 Sycamore Hills for the second time. The Jack Nicklaus-designed course held the 2018 event in which EMU placed seventh with a cumulative score of 1,245 (312-305-309-319).
The tournament will begin Friday with EMU's tee times starting at 8:30 a.m. Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.
Back in 2019, there was heavy anticipation and buildup for a final round battle between Eastern Michigan University and Kent State for the title. Unfortunately, it was Mother Nature that in the end stole the show, as heavy rains overnight forced the cancellation of the final round at Club Walden.
The Eagles and Golden Flashes shared the team championship, however, Kent State earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships due to tiebreakers. KSU won the cumulative total of non-counting scores by three, 154-151.
The Eagles put together two strong rounds with a 294 in the first round and a one-under 287 for a two-round tally of 581. EMU was six strokes ahead of Kent State after round one, but the Golden Flashes rallied to fire a seven-under 281 to close the gap and tie the cumulative total at 581.
The 2019 title was Eastern Michigan's third all-time MAC men's golf championship after previously earning the trophy in 2007 and 2008.
Kent State is ranked No. 42 in Golfstat's national rankings followed by Toledo (134), Eastern Michigan (141), Ball State (170), Miami (171), Northern Illinois (174), Bowling Green (193), and Ohio (199).
Traveling this weekend for EMU will be Celone, Collins, redshirt junior Zack Mason (Toronto, Ontario, Canada-Blyth Academy Lawrence Park), senior Tyler Rayman (Otsego, Mich.-Otsego), freshman MJ Smith (Rockford, Ill.-Winnebago), and freshman Max Watson (Ashland, Ohio-Ashland).
Regional play for the 2021 Division I Men's Golf Championships will be held May 17-19, with play taking place at The Sagamore Club in Noblesville, Ind., hosted by Ball State; Seminole Legacy Golf Club in Tallahassee, Fla., hosted by Florida State; Championship Course at UNM in Albuquerque, N.M., hosted by New Mexico; Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla., hosted by Oklahoma State; Golf Club of Tennessee in Kingston Springs, Tenn., hosted by Vanderbilt; and Tumble Creek Golf & Country Club in Cle Elum, Wash., hosted by Washington.
Three of the six regional sites will have 13 teams and 10 individuals competing, while three will have 14 teams and five individuals. The top five teams (30 teams total) and the low individual not on an advancing team from each regional site (six individuals total) will advance to the national championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The men's championship will be held May 28-June 2, with GOLF Channel providing live coverage of the final day of individual championship play on May 31 as well as the team match play on June 1-2
MAC Championship - April 30-May 1, 2021
Where: Fort Wayne, Ind. (Sycamore Hills Golf Club)
Format: 36 holes on Friday; 18 holes on Saturday
Par/Yardage: 72/7,253
Field: Ball State, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami, Northern Illinois, Ohio, and Toledo
Lineup: TBA
Players Mentioned
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