Armed with even more depth and experience than a year ago, when they finished second at the 2009 Horizon League Championship, the Titan men’s golfers open their fall campaign Saturday and Sunday at Michigan State’s Spartan Classic.
The three-round event will be staged at The Kingsley Club in Traverse City. Detroit finished second to Michigan State in the rain-swept inaugural tournament last fall. In addition to UDM and MSU, the field also includes California, Charleston Southern, Cleveland State, Columbia, Duquesne, Evansville, Jackson State, Northern Illinois, Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Clara and UC-Davis.
The Titans return all five starters from last year’s HL runner-up lineup but there will be a slight alteration this week as coach Mark Engel – entering his 20th year at the Detroit helm – breaks out his Canadian 5, Part 2. Like two years ago, when he regularly fielded an all-Canadian lineup, he’ll do so again at the Spartan Classic as five natives of Ontario tee it up for UDM.
They include senior David Byrne, a three-time All-Horizon League selection who won three major tournaments this summer in his native province; juniors Jeff Clarridge – the 2008 HL Newcomer of the Year – and Britt Pronk, a 2009 All-Tournament honoree; sophomore Mark Hicks and promising freshman Simon Reyers.
“We took a little more time to prepare this year before going to our first fall tournament, and these five guys really came to the top by the end of our qualifiers,” Engel said. “The qualifying rounds were hotly-contested, though, and (assistant coach) Luke (LaFave) and I think it’ll be that way a lot this year because of the talent and depth we’ve added to the team.”
In addition to this week’s lineup, the 2009-10 UDM roster also includes a pair of seniors in Brian Sparks and Alex Watkins, junior transfer Adam Istvan (from Hawaii Pacific) and three-time All-State freshman Sheldon Keyte.
Detroit will also compete in 54-hole invitationals hosted by DePaul, Illinois State and Georgetown later in the fall season.
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