April 24, 2002
Columbia, Mo. - The University of Missouri men's golf team will participate in the 6th annual Big 12 Men's Golf Championship, scheduled to be held April 29-30 at Prarie Dunes Golf and Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan.
This will mark the 11th straight year that Prarie Dunes has hosted a conference championship - the last 5 for the Big 12 (1997-2001) and 5 consecutive years prior to that for the Big Eight (1992-96).
Tigers Hopeful for Top-Tier Finish
Mizzou, which is ranked 49th in the country according to the latest set of rankings by GolfStat, heads into the Big 12 Championship in good position to earn a team bid to the upcoming NCAA Central Regional. Mizzou is looking for their first NCAA Regional team bid since 1995.
A strong performance at the Big 12 Championship wouldn't hurt, of course, and the Tigers are set on stating their case, as Tim Robyn's squad has played well of late.
MU has finished in the top 3 in each of its last 3 tournaments heading into Prairie Dunes. The Tigers had consecutive runner-up performances to close out March, and most recently finished 3rd at the ASU Indian Classic, just 3 strokes off the pace.
Mizzou Big 12 History
If the Tigers are to finish in the upper-tier of the tournament field, they'll have to buck recent history. Mizzou has finished no higher than 7th in the last 10 years playing its conference tournament at Prarie Dunes. That came in 1994, when the Tigers took 7th.
The last time MU finished in the upper half of its conference championship came back in 1988, when Mizzou took 3rd in the Big Eight tournament. Mizzou has won two conference titles: 1949 in the Big Seven and 1983 in the Big Eight. Individual History
Senior Mark McBride has the most experience at Prairie Dunes among current Tigers. McBride will be making his 4th appearance at the championship, and is looking to top his previous best finish of 26th (2001).
Junior Cory Ewert holds the best finish at Prairie Dunes among current Tigers, when he placed 25th in 2000.
The last Tiger to finish in the top-10 of a conference championship was Colby Robertson, who tied for 4th in 1998.
Tiger Individuals
Mizzou's undisputed No. 1 golfer is senior Mark McBride.
McBride leads MU with a spring stroke average of 72.74, and his season average of 72.61 ranks him 15th currently in the Big 12 Conference.
McBride, the two-time defending Missouri State Amateur Champion (the last to do such since Tom Watson won back-to-back titles in 1970-71), has been a model of consistency this season. He's finished no worse than tied for 18th in all 11 tournaments thus far.
McBride finished tied for 16th in his last outing, which broke a string of 3 consecutive top-10 finishes, as he tied for 8th at the Louisiana Classics, finished 4th at the Birkdale Collegiate, and tied for 3rd at the Stevinson Ranch Invitational.
McBride has 10 top-10 finishes and 26 top-25 finishes in 46 career starts. He'll be looking to improve on his previous best Big 12 Championship finish of 26th, established in 2001. His career average at Prairie Dunes is 77.33 in 9 previous rounds.
Sophomore Brandon Knaub carries the 2nd-best spring average into Prairie Dunes, and he's playing his best golf of late, as well. His season stroke average of 73.68 ranks him 23rd in the Big 12.
Knaub has recorded top-25 finishes in 5-of-7 spring outings, and has recorded top-10 showings in his last 2 tournaments. He first tied for 5th at the Stevinson Ranch Invitational, and followed that by tieing for 7th at the ASU Indian Classic. His 54-hole total of 214 (73-68-73) at Stevinson marked a career best.
Knaub played in last year's Big 12 Championship at Prairie Dunes, and finished 51st with a 244 total. He is likely one of the Big 12's most improved players, as he has cut more than 3 1/2 strokes off his spring average this season, going from 77.11 per round as a freshman, to his 2002 spring mark of 73.53.
Junior Cory Ewert ranks 3rd on the Tiger squad in spring stroke average, at 74.10. After playing in just 2 of MU's first 6 tournaments during the 2001-02 season, Ewert has established himself as one of MU's top weapons, as he's notched top-25 finishes in each of his last 3 outings.
Ewert is coming off a season-best finish, as he tied for 11th at the ASU Indian Classic with a season-best 219 total for 54 holes (73-72-74).
Ewert, who did not play last season, has played twice previously at Prairie Dunes. He tied for 25th in 2000, which is the previous best finish at the course among current Tigers. He also tied for 58th there playing as a freshman in 1999. His 2002 spring stroke average of 74.10 is almost 4 strokes better than his previous spring best of 77.92, which came as a sophomore in 2000.
Freshman Ben Scott ranks 4th on the Tiger squad with a spring stroke average of 74.88. His season average of 75.03 ranks him 44th among Big 12 players.
Scott is coming off the best finish of his young career, as he tied for 8th at the ASU Indian Classic 2 weeks ago, when he shot a 218 for 54 holes (73-74-71).
Junior Chris Happ ranks 5th on the squad with a spring stroke average of 75.53. He's played in all 7 spring outings thus far, and his season stroke average of 74.97 ranks him 42nd in the Big 12 Conference.
Happ is another Tiger who has improved his game measurably this season, as his previous best spring average was 78.67, established last season.
Happ has played at Prairie Dunes once before, when he tied for 39th last year with a 239 total.
Sophomore Mike Radek is the other potential player in the Tiger lineup next week. Radek got off to a great start in the fall, with 2 top-12 finishes in 3 starts. His fall stroke average was 73.00, which was 2nd-best on the team.
He's had a hard time finding his stroke in the spring, however, as his stroke average has jumped to 77.80 in 4 starts. Radek has not played in MU's last 2 tournaments.
He does have Big 12 Championship experience, though, as Radek tied for 39th there last year with a 54-hole total of 239.
Head Coach Tim Robyn
In his fourth year leading the Missouri men's golf program, and in his fifth year overall at MU, is Head Coach Tim Robyn.
Tabbed prior to the 1998-99 season as the successor to longtime Tiger skipper Richard Poe, Robyn (ROE-buy-n) has quickly established Mizzou as one of the up-and-coming programs in the midwest region.
After a solid 2001 fall campaign, Robyn's squad is poised to make a run at an upper-half Big 12 Conference finish, and a subsequent NCAA regional bid. Those would be remarkable accomplishments for a program that hasn't received an NCAA team bid since 1995 and that hasn't finished in the top half of a league championship event since finishing 3rd in the old Big Eight in 1988.
An excellent teacher of the game, Robyn has guided the development of current senior Mark McBride into one of the nation's top amateur players. This past summer, McBride made history by winning his second straight Missouri State Amateur Championship. He became the first person to win consecutive Missouri Amateurs since Tom Watson did the same in 1970 and 1971.
Robyn guided Mizzou to a team championship in the fall of 1999 at the Kansas Invitational - MU's first team title since 1995. It also was a significant win for the fact that the Tigers knocked off the host Jayhawks on their home course at a time when KU was ranked #1 in the nation.
TIGER 2002 SPRING SEASON STATISTICS
# # 18 Low 54 Low Best Tiger Tourn. Rds. Avg. Round Avg. 54 Finish Mark McBRIDE 7 19 72.74 66 217.8 213 T-3rd Brandon KNAUB 7 19 73.53 68 220.2 214 T-5th Cory EWERT 4 10 74.10 69 219.5 219 T-11th Ben SCOTT 6 17 74.88 70 222.8 218 T-8th Chris HAPP 7 19 75.53 71 227.2 219 T-16th Mike RADEK 4 10 77.80 74 229.5 227 T-33rd
TIGERS WITH BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE
TIGER 2001 2000 1999 Rounds Avg. Mark T-26th T-30th T-52nd 9 77.33 McBride 79-76-79=234 75-75-76=226 75-78-83=236
Cory - 25th 58th 6 77.50 Ewert 75-72-76=223 81-82-79=242
Mike T-39th - - 3 79.67 Radek 76-88-75=239
Chris T-39th - - 3 79.67 Happ 85-78-76=239
Brandon 51st - - 3 81.33 Knaub 83-82-79=244
All rounds played at Prairie Dunes Golf Club - Hutchinson, Kan.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
DATE: April 29-30
SITE: Prairie Dunes Golf Club, Hutchinson, Kan.
FORMAT: 54 holes contested over two days (36 on Monday, 18 on Tuesday). Each team will play with five golfers. The top four scores from each day of competition will count towards the team total.
TEAMS: 12 teams (with rankings according to GolfStat: #8 Oklahoma St., #11 Texas, #22 Baylor, #23 Oklahoma, #31 Colorado, #38 Kansas, #49 MISSOURI, #51 Texas Tech, #79 Kansas State, #88 Texas A&M, #132 Iowa St., & #142 Nebraska.
NOTE: The winning team will receive the Big 12 Conference's automatic bid into the NCAA regionals.
TIMES: Tee times will begin at 8:00 a.m. (CST) off the 1st and 10th tees.
RESULTS: Texas is hosting the tournament, and will have results posted on their official website, which can be found at: www.texassports.com -or- www.big12sports.com
TV HIGHLIGHT FEED: The Big 12 Conference will provide a highlight feed for those wishing to show tournament action. Details are: Tues., April 30, 4:45-5:00 p.m. (central), KU Band, SBS 6, Transponder 6.