Eastern Michigan Athletics
Monday, February 7
Dade City, Fla.
All Day
Eastern Michigan University
at
Earl Yestingsmeier Match Play
Men’s Golf Advances to Yestingsmeier Match Play Finals
2/7/2022 7:45:00 PM | Men's Golf
No. 2-seeded Eastern Michigan will play No. 1 Toledo Tuesday morning for the title
Live Results.
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. 7, the Eagles went 2-0 on the day to advance to Tuesday's championship match versus either top-seeded Toledo on the par 72, 7,153 yard Lake Jovita Golf Course.
The second-seeded Eagles, who won the event in 2015 and 2016, defeated No. 7 Xavier University, 5-1, in the opening round. They then edged No. 6 seeded Flyers of the University of Dayton, 3.5-2.5, in the champions bracket in the afternoon.
How It Happened
» 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 receives 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.
» EMU had three players post perfect days with 2-0 marks while another went 1-0-1.
» Eastern Michigan won five of the six matches against Xavier in the opening round. The Eagles had no trouble in the morning, with none of the matches making it to the 18th hole.
» Senior Cougar Collins (Caledon, Ontario, Canada-Mayfield Secondary) cruised to a 5&4 decision over Michael Prebles, while sophomore Max Watson (Ashland, Ohio-Ashland) closed out Mason Witt by the same margin.
» Sophomore MJ Smith (Rockford, Ill.-Winnebago) rolled to a 5&3 victory over Justin Gabbard.
» Seniors Ty Celone (Long Sault, Ontario, Canada-St Joseph's Catholic) and Zack Mason (Toronto, Ontario, Canada-Blyth Academy Lawrence Park) collected 3&2 over the Musketeers' Jack Wertz and Nick Frey.
» XU's lone win came at the No. 6 position when Brian Jennings II downed Blaise Vanitvelt (Fenton Mich.-Flint Powers Catholic-Monteverde Academy), 4&2.
» EMU's success continued in the second match of the day, with the Eagles taking three of the matchups and tying another.
» Collins cruised to a 5&3 triumph over Dayton's Henry May, while Celone edged Blake Solomon, 3&1.
» Mason added his second win of the day with a 1-up win over Hayden Zimmerer
» This was EMU's first match play event since the 2020 Earl Yestingsmeier Match Play, Feb. 10-11.
Up Next
Head Coach Bruce Cunningham's crew will now prepare for the championship round. Live scoring for Tuesday's rounds are available at Golfstat.com.
Opening Round
No. 2 Eastern Michigan def. No. 7 Xavier, 5-1
Ty Celone (EMU) def. Jack Wertz (XU) 3&2
Cougar Collins (EMU) def. Michael Prebles (XU), 5&4
MJ Smith (EMU) def. Justin Gabbard (XU), 5&3
Zack Mason (EMU) def. Nick Frey (XU), 3&2
Max Watson (EMU) def. Mason Witt (XU), 5&4
Brian Jennings II (XU) def. Blaise Vanitvelt (EMU), 4&2
Other Opening Round Matchups
No. 1 Toledo def. No. 8 DePaul, 5-1
No. 4 Loyola tied with No. 5 Drake, 2-2-2 (Drake advances on tiebreakers)
No. 3 Ball State tied with No. 6 Dayton, 2-2-2 (Dayton advances on tiebreakers
Semifinals
No. 2 Eastern Michigan def. No. 6 Dayton, 3.5-2.5
Ty Celone (EMU) def. Blake Solomon (UD), 3&1
Cougar Collins (EMU) def. Henry May (UD), 5&3
MJ Smith (EMU) tied with Kyle Schmidt (UD)
Zack Mason (EMU) def. Hayden Zimmerer (UD), 1-up
Ryan Clements (UD) def. Max Watson (EMU), 4&3
Ethan Snyder (UD) def. Blaise Vanitvelt (EMU), 1-up
Other Semifinal Matchups
No. 1 Toledo def. No. 5 Drake, 4.5-1.5
No. 4 Loyola def. No. 8 DePaul, 3.5-2.5
No. 3 Ball State tied No. 7 Xavier (BSU advances on tiebreakers)
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. 7, the Eagles went 2-0 on the day to advance to Tuesday's championship match versus either top-seeded Toledo on the par 72, 7,153 yard Lake Jovita Golf Course.
The second-seeded Eagles, who won the event in 2015 and 2016, defeated No. 7 Xavier University, 5-1, in the opening round. They then edged No. 6 seeded Flyers of the University of Dayton, 3.5-2.5, in the champions bracket in the afternoon.
How It Happened
» 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 receives 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.
» EMU had three players post perfect days with 2-0 marks while another went 1-0-1.
» Eastern Michigan won five of the six matches against Xavier in the opening round. The Eagles had no trouble in the morning, with none of the matches making it to the 18th hole.
» Senior Cougar Collins (Caledon, Ontario, Canada-Mayfield Secondary) cruised to a 5&4 decision over Michael Prebles, while sophomore Max Watson (Ashland, Ohio-Ashland) closed out Mason Witt by the same margin.
» Sophomore MJ Smith (Rockford, Ill.-Winnebago) rolled to a 5&3 victory over Justin Gabbard.
» Seniors Ty Celone (Long Sault, Ontario, Canada-St Joseph's Catholic) and Zack Mason (Toronto, Ontario, Canada-Blyth Academy Lawrence Park) collected 3&2 over the Musketeers' Jack Wertz and Nick Frey.
» XU's lone win came at the No. 6 position when Brian Jennings II downed Blaise Vanitvelt (Fenton Mich.-Flint Powers Catholic-Monteverde Academy), 4&2.
» EMU's success continued in the second match of the day, with the Eagles taking three of the matchups and tying another.
» Collins cruised to a 5&3 triumph over Dayton's Henry May, while Celone edged Blake Solomon, 3&1.
» Mason added his second win of the day with a 1-up win over Hayden Zimmerer
» This was EMU's first match play event since the 2020 Earl Yestingsmeier Match Play, Feb. 10-11.
Up Next
Head Coach Bruce Cunningham's crew will now prepare for the championship round. Live scoring for Tuesday's rounds are available at Golfstat.com.
Opening Round
No. 2 Eastern Michigan def. No. 7 Xavier, 5-1
Ty Celone (EMU) def. Jack Wertz (XU) 3&2
Cougar Collins (EMU) def. Michael Prebles (XU), 5&4
MJ Smith (EMU) def. Justin Gabbard (XU), 5&3
Zack Mason (EMU) def. Nick Frey (XU), 3&2
Max Watson (EMU) def. Mason Witt (XU), 5&4
Brian Jennings II (XU) def. Blaise Vanitvelt (EMU), 4&2
Other Opening Round Matchups
No. 1 Toledo def. No. 8 DePaul, 5-1
No. 4 Loyola tied with No. 5 Drake, 2-2-2 (Drake advances on tiebreakers)
No. 3 Ball State tied with No. 6 Dayton, 2-2-2 (Dayton advances on tiebreakers
Semifinals
No. 2 Eastern Michigan def. No. 6 Dayton, 3.5-2.5
Ty Celone (EMU) def. Blake Solomon (UD), 3&1
Cougar Collins (EMU) def. Henry May (UD), 5&3
MJ Smith (EMU) tied with Kyle Schmidt (UD)
Zack Mason (EMU) def. Hayden Zimmerer (UD), 1-up
Ryan Clements (UD) def. Max Watson (EMU), 4&3
Ethan Snyder (UD) def. Blaise Vanitvelt (EMU), 1-up
Other Semifinal Matchups
No. 1 Toledo def. No. 5 Drake, 4.5-1.5
No. 4 Loyola def. No. 8 DePaul, 3.5-2.5
No. 3 Ball State tied No. 7 Xavier (BSU advances on tiebreakers)
Players Mentioned
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