PALM COAST, Fla. – The Penn State men's golf team took two wins on the first day of Big Ten Match Play on the Ocean Course at Hammock Beach Resort Friday. The Nittany Lions topped Indiana 4-1-1 in the morning session of Big Ten Match play and roared to a 3-2-1 victory over No. 2 seed Purdue in the afternoon.
Three of the afternoon matches vs. the Boilermakers were tied going to the last hole. Senior Alec Bard (New Hartford, N.Y.) birdied his last hole to win the third match vs. Purdue and secure the team win. Junior James McHugh (Rye, N.Y.) recorded a win (2&1) and freshman Jimmy Meyers (Wexford, Pa.) added to his early lead and finished at 4&3.
The Nittany Lions won their morning match 4-1-1 with senior Ryan Davis (Berkeley Heights, N.J.), Bard and Lou Olsakovsky (Upper St. Clair, Pa.) all winning their matches 4&3, and Meyers taking his match 2&1.
Penn State faces Maryland in the championship semifinals with a shotgun start at 7:40 a.m. ET. The Terps topped Minnesota 3-2-1 after winning the tiebreaker vs. Rutgers. Saturday's afternoon session concludes with the championship, third, fifth- and seventh-place matches.
Live scoring for Big Ten Match Play is available on GolfStat. A recap of Saturday's competition and results will be available on GoPSUsports.com.
The Big Ten Network will broadcast the 2020 Big Ten Match Play Championship, which includes interviews of the Nittany Lions, on Sunday, March 1 at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Keep up to date with the latest information about the Nittany Lion Men's Golf team on Twitter at @PennStateMGolf and Facebook. Follow Coach Greg Nye on Instagram at @CoachNyePSU.
Tim Cowie/Tim Cowie Photography