Hogs to play for National Championship

TOLEDO, Ohio-The No. 10 ranked University of Arkansas Razorback men’s golf team battled its way through the NCAA Division I Championship bracket on Friday. The team advanced through both quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, beating Washington in the first and Georgia in the second. The Razorbacks are set to play Texas A&M for the title Saturday morning at 10:00 AM. Arkansas earned a No. 4 seed in the match bracket by finishing at a tie for third in the stroke play championship on Thursday, carding a 13-over 865(297-283-285). It is the first time Quarterfinals-For the quarterfinal, the Razorbacks faced a morning match up with No. 5 seed Washington who the Hogs defeated 3-2. Jamie Marshall won a point in the five hole, 3 & 2 over Washington’s Tze Huang Choo. The Razorbacks also captured the win in the No. 4 spot when Jason Cuthbertson defeated Chris Killmer 3&2. 
 Arkansas clinched the match with David Lingmerth’s win over Richard Lee 2 & 1. “We were fortunate to come out on top, and the kids had a good time. It was exciting out there,” Arkansas head coach Brad McMakin said of new format. “It’s nice when your teammates come out for the last match. It brings a lot of team camaraderie, and I think it’s great for the sport.”During the quarterfinal, top seeded and top ranked Oklahoma State suffered a huge upset at the hands of No. 8 seed Georgia. The Bulldogs defeated the Cowboys 3-2. Georgia entered the tournament ranked higher than Oklahoma State at No. 1, to the Cowboys No. 2, according to Golfstat. Oklahoma State had led the field all three days before the quarterfinals, leaving the second place finisher of stroke play, Arizona State a full 13 strokes behind. “If it bothers me then I don’t like this format. I love this format, play better and you win the match. We played great; we had confidence going into today,” Oklahoma State head coach Mike McGraw said of the upset. “We didn’t get it done today but it felt good to play well for three days.” “When you compete against those guys you know they’re tough as nails. You drop the friendship, go toe-to-toe with them and try to beat those guys because they’re tough,” Georgia head coach Chris Haack said of the Cowboys. “We knew it was not going to be an easy day either way.”No. 7 Texas A&M also advanced to the semifinals after scoring a 3-1-1 win over second seeded Arizona State. Senior Bronson Burgoon sealed the win for the Aggies after posting a 5 & 4 win over Knut Borsheim at the 14th holeSixth seeded Michigan, who entered the tournament ranked No. 39 in the nation edged out Southern California with a 3-2-0 after sophomore Wolverines Lion Kim landed a 212-yard shot within a foot of the 17th hole.Semifinals-Arkansas went on to face Georgia in the semifinal match Friday afternoon. The Razorbacks defeated the Bulldogs in a 3-1-1 showdown. “Georgia had such a hard match this morning that we thought they might take us a little bit for granted. We were kind of hoping that would happen and overlook us. We wanted to jump on them early, get up on them and make them think about it,” McMakin said. “We were fortunate they had to play Oklahoma State this morning. This is how it goes in match play and hopefully we can continue tomorrow.”No. 5 Jamie Marshall of Arkansas took the match against Adam Mitchell by one after playing all 18 holes. Jason Cuthbertson won his match up with Harris English by 2 and 1. “Our No. 4 player Jason Cuthbertson has won two big matches for us. He’s played really well along with our No. 5 Jamie Marshall,” Coach McMakin noted. “They’ve gotten us out of the box hot and kept their composure and done a great job.”Georgia’s Russell Henley defeated Arkansas freshman Ethan Tracy also by a 2 and 1 finish. David Lingmerth clinched his victory of Bulldog Hudson Swafford in 3 and 2. Lingmerth aced the 200-yard 3rd hole of the match. “As soon as I hit the ball it felt great. I thought it was the best shot I ever hit right away. I thought it might go too far since I hit it so good,” Lingmerth said of the hole-in one. “It hit about four feet from the pin and just trickled in. I used a seven-iron and it was my first one in an actual tournament.” Razorback Andrew Landry and Brian Harman played a tight competition, going all 18 holes before splitting the match down the middle.“I think it took a little bit out of us. I almost wish we had a night to sleep on that one but that’s the way it goes. Arkansas played great. Those guys made a lot of birdies,” Georgia head Coach Chris Haack said of the possible letdown. “I told my players we might not have gotten the trophy but we won a national championship match. That was a match we had to win. When they talk about this tournament, that was the match.”Texas A&M defeated Michigan in the same 3-1-1 fashion as the Arkansas/Georgia win. No.2 Andrea Pavan of Texas A&M def. No. 2 Alexander Sitompul Michigan in an 8 & 7.Senior Matt Van Zandt won on the 18th hole after his shot from the rough landed approximately 10 feet from the pin. Michigan senior Bill Rankin’s second shot from the rough landed in the sand with his sand wedge landing the rough. Rankin then made a run at the hole with his chip shot but just missed. He then conceded the hole to give the Aggies the victory.“It’s so fantastic,” Texas A&M Head Coach J.T. Higgins said. “Michigan was unbelievable and they wouldn’t go away. We had a chance to close them out several times and they kept fighting and fighting. I was so impressed with their team and they were amazing. We kept trying to answer their punches by throwing a counterpunch. We kept coming at them. It was a great match all the way around.”

Championship-The final match of the 112th Division I Men’s Championship is set to begin tomorrow with No. 4 Arkansas facing out against No. 7 seeded Texas A&M at 10:00 AM. Tee Times are as follows:10:00 a.m. – No. 5 Jamie Marshall (Ark.) vs. No. 5 Conrad Shindler (Texas A&M)
10:09 a.m. – No. 4 Jason Cuthbertson (Ark.) vs. No. 4 Matt Van Zandt (Texas A&M)
10:18 a.m. – No. 3 Ethan Tracy (Ark.) vs. No. 3 John Hurley (Texas A&M)
10:27 a.m. – No. 2 David Lingmerth (Ark.) vs. No. 2 Andrea Pavan (Texas A&M)
10:36 a.m. – No. 1 Andrew Landry (Ark.) vs. No. 1 Bronson Burgoon (Texas A&M)

Live scoring is available on Golfstat.com Thanks to University of Toledo Sports Information for contributing information.