The Wisconsin men’s golf team will travel to East Lansing, Mich. this weekend to do battle at the 38th annual Fossum/TaylorMade Invitational. The event takes place Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1 at Michigan State’s Forest Akers West golf course.
The Badgers will be joined by 14 others teams from the Midwest District, including Ball State, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Marshall, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Toledo and Xavier. Teams will play 36 holes Saturday and 18 holes Sunday, teeing off at 9 a.m. both days.
Last week, the Badgers unexpectedly had the weekend off when the Robert Kepler Invitational, held at Ohio State University, was cancelled due to inclement weather. The players were disappointed because at this point in the season every tournament win is important in order to move up in the district rankings and build momentum heading down the home stretch.
“We’re all anxious to get out there and play,” UW senior golfer Brian Brodell said. “Not playing last weekend hurt our team because we need to win as many tournaments as possible to get in the NCAAs.”
The Forest Akers West Course was redesigned by Michigan State alumnus Arthur Hills in 1992. Renovations include extending the length of the course to more than 7,000 yards, new bent grass greens, 18 new bent grass tees, new rye fairway grass and all new bunkers.
“I want to play the way I know I can play and just go out there and not get in my own way,” sophomore Garrett Jones said. “We are fully capable of winning, we did it twice in the fall, and nothing has changed since then.”
Jones heads back to the Forest Akers West course, where last year he shot the first under-par round of his college career. He has had a great week of practice, working with the coaches, which has helped him get back on track.
“The par threes are pretty strong and you have to take advantage of the par fives here,” Jones said. “It’s a lot like many of the other courses we play.”
Brodell also has plenty of experience playing the Forest Akers West course.
“I’ve played the course since freshman year and even before with the Junior Qualifiers,” Brodell said. “It’s a tighter golf course, it’s scorable, and there’s not a lot of hazards or out-of-bounds, but you can get into trouble. There are some very tough greens and you need to keep the ball below the hole because they are very slow from back to front.”
The Fossum Invitational, originally called the Spartan Invitational, began in 1966 with eight schools participating and grew to 25 teams in the late ’70s. The tournament was renamed in 1992 after Bruce Fossum, longtime Spartan head coach. In 1996, the tournament celebrated its 30th anniversary and was added to the College Golf Foundation/Rolex Golf Tour as one of the top 75 collegiate golf tournaments.
Head coach Jim Schuman looks forward to this weekend as a chance for his players to build confidence while playing teams within their district head-to-head. He feels his team can play well and shoot solid rounds on a course like Michigan State’s.
“It’s a very good course and it’s pretty well-balanced throughout,” head coach Jim Schuman said. “The weather hasn’t been too nice so we just have to wait and see.”
The Fossum Invitational is the last tournament of the season for Wisconsin before they host the Big Ten Championships at University Ridge May 6-8 in Madison. Playing the Big Ten Championship on their home course, with such high stakes at risk, is a major advantage for Schuman’s squad.
“The eye is such a powerful thing in golf,” Brodell said. “You can remember a shot, how you missed it or left it short, and it sticks with you and helps you with future shots.”
Jones agrees.
“Everybody is comfortable on the course and knows how to play all the shots on the course because we’ve seen them before,” he said. “I feel like we are going to have a lot of people out there supporting us and I think we’re going to thrive on that.”
But coach Schuman is quick to point out the more immediate task at hand.
“It’s an unbelievable advantage hosting a tournament and you take pride in what you do on your home course,” he said. “We’re looking forward to it but we can’t look past Michigan State this weekend.”