Men's Golf

The Gopher men’s golf team will have only one NCAA All-American at Spring Hill Golf Club this weekend, and it’s new director of golf John Harris.
Harris joined the Gophers this summer following a successful golf career as both an amateur and professional. With the golf resume and his Minnesota roots, athletics director Joel Maturi used Harris as a resource in the long coaching search this summer to fill the vanacy left by Brad James after 22 years on the job. He wasn’t just a resource for long, however, as Maturi eventually offered Harris the job.

John Harris, the man who helped win Minnesota’s first NCAA hockey championship and two months later took down a Big Ten golf championship of his own, is Minnesota’s new director of golf.
The Gophers made the announcement official Friday afternoon, though reports of the decision began almost three weeks ago. Harris will take over the spot vacated in July by Brad James, who left the position after 23 years to become high performance director for Golf Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport.

One of the most successful golfers ever to play for Minnesota finished his collegiate career over the weekend, but not the way he wanted to.
After his team failed to win a tournament all season, senior Ben Pisani shot a one-under 209, tying a season low to finish in a tie for 11th place at an NCAA regional qualifier in South Bend, Ind. He was one stroke over going to a tie breaker for a chance to play at the NCAA championships as an individual. It was quite the improvement over his previous outing at the Big Ten golf championships, where he shot a 20-over par 304 and tied for 39th.

The Minnesota men’s golf team showed few signs of improvement throughout the spring season, but some bright spots shown through in its last tournament before postseason play.
The Gophers took seventh out of 12 teams at the Crooked Stick Invitational in Carmel, Ind., on Tuesday, shooting a 50-over par 902 to edge out Big Ten rival Wisconsin by five strokes . It was the highest the Gophers have finished since mid-October.
Illinois won the event with a 7-over 859, including a tournament-best 283 in the second round.

The Minnesota men’s golf team was in need of a quick turnaround if the men wanted to be playing their best by the end of the year but with another disappointing finish this weekend, time for improvement is running out.
The team shot a 22-over-par 886 at the Administaff Augusta State Invitational in Augusta, Ga., to end up last out of 18 teams. It was the second time the Gophers finished in the back of the pack this spring season.
Minnesota came into the third and final round Sunday in 14th place , but shot a 17-over 305 to slip all the way down the leaderboard.

Coming into the weekend, there was nowhere to go but up for the Minnesota men’s golf team.
After shooting a 70-over par and finishing last at the General Hackler on March 14-15, the Gophers moved up the leaderboard at the FAU Spring Break Championship by shooting a 26-over par 878 to land in eighth out of 16.
But director of golf Brad James has not been impressed with the team’s performance thus far this spring.
“The whole spring has been a massive disappointment,” James said. “Our expectations are that we compete nationally, and we haven’t been able to do that very well.”