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BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS INFO
Friday-Sunday, April 28-30, 2017 / Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore Country Club (Five Farms East GC) / 7,004 yards, Par 70
Tee Times start at 9 a.m. ET all three days (54 holes)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's golf team heads to Maryland for the 2017 Big Ten Golf Championships, held on the East Coast for the first time in league history.
Purdue Aims for First Big Ten Title in 36 Years
- The No. 38-ranked Purdue men's golf team aims for its first league title in 36 years when it travels to the Baltimore Country Club and Five Farms East GC for the 2017 Big Ten Championships. Action gets underway on Friday morning and the 54-hole tournament will conclude on Sunday. It marks the second straight year the tournament will consist of just 54 holes, after playing 72 holes for the previous 10 years.
The Last Time Out
- Purdue finished second at its own invitational over Easter weekend, firing a 6-over par 870 (294-293-283) to finish just five shots behind No. 11-ranked Kent State and ahead of highly-ranked UNLV (16th) and Northwestern (30th).
- Three Boilermakers placed in the top 10 led by Austin Eoff (3rd), Timmy Hildebrand (5th) and Fernando Barco (7th).
NCAA Competition Returning to Purdue
- For the first time since hosting the 2008 NCAA National Championships, Purdue will host another NCAA competition this Spring, serving as 1-of-6 host schools for the NCAA Regionals on May 15-17 at the Kampen Course. It marks the fifth NCAA competition the course has held since its opening in 1999 (2001 women's regional, 2003 women's championship, 2004 men's regional, 2008 men's championship, 2017 men's regional).
Big Ten Championships History
- Purdue has won 12 Big Ten Championships in school history, but is looking for its first title since 1981. The 12 titles are the third most in league history (Ohio State - 22; Illinois - 14).
- Purdue's drought (36 years) is the second-longest streak of any program behind just Michigan's 65-year drought (1952). "Newcomers" Nebraska, Maryland, Penn State and Rutgers have not won a Big Ten Championship.
- Purdue has finished in the top five in 47-of-89 Big Ten Championships it has competed in. It has finished 10th or lower just five times in school history, the last time coming in 1999 (11th).
- Purdue has finished 5th (2014), 8th (2015) and T-6th (2016) under Rob Bradley at the Big Ten Championships. In 2014, Purdue led after 45 holes, but succumbed to the wind at the Pete Dye Course in French Lick, Indiana, falling to fifth at the conclusion of 72 holes.
Purdue Team Notes
- According to Golfweek, Purdue currently has played the second-toughest schedule in the Big Ten and is 28th nationally (as of April 24).
- Purdue has finished in the top half of every event this year except the Olympia Fields / Fighting Illini Invitational (T-8th / 15) and the Bridgestone Golf Collegiate (7th / 13 teams).
- During the Rob Bradley era (four years), Purdue has finished in the top five in 29-of-49 tournaments played to date (not including the NCAA National Championships). In the previous seven years (2006-07 to 2012-13), Purdue had 30 top-five finishes in 86 events.
- Of the 23 top single-season stroke averages in school history, 10 have come during the Rob Bradley era, including four this year.
- Purdue's current stroke average of 289.12 is the second-best average in school history, just behind the 288.19, set during the 2001-02 season. Three of the top four averages, including this year, have come under Rob Bradley.
- Purdue has had 11 team rounds of even-par or better, the third most in a season in school history. The school record is 13 set last year.
Purdue Individual Notes
- Fernando Barco ... ranks second on the single-season stroke average list at Purdue (72.35) ... four straight top-15 finishes (T-12, 3, T-12, T-7), shooting a combined 10-under par in that span ... owns a 71.17 scoring average during the spring ... owns a team-best 72.29 scoring average in the third round ... leads the team in par-4 scoring (+13) ... ranks fifth on Purdue's percentage of rounds at even-par or better list (11 / 23; .478) ... had seven straight rounds of even par or better earlier this year, the second-longest streak in school history ... named Big Ten Player of the Week on March 29.
- Austin Eoff ... ranks fifth on the single-season stroke average list at Purdue (72.46) ... also ranks fourth (2015), ninth (2016) and 17th (2014) ... school-record holder in career stroke average (72.74) ... ranks fourth in career top-10 finishes (16) ... surpassed 10,000 career strokes during the Boilermaker Invitational -- seventh player to reach that mark ... should Purdue advance to nationals, he will tie school record with 52 career events played ... 62 of his 139 career rounds have been even or under par ... been named All-Big Ten three times. Just two Purdue players have been named All-Big Ten four times (Lenny Hartlage, Peter Richardson).
- Timmy Hildebrand ... ranks 15th on the single-season stroke average list at Purdue (73.08) ... leads the team in top-five (2), top-10 (3) and top-20 (5) finishes ... leads the team in birdies (80) ... tied for the team lead in rounds of par or better (12) ... has four rounds in the 60s this year ... named Big Ten Golfer of the Week on Feb. 22.
- Brian Carlson ... ranks 23rd on the single-season stroke average list (73.35) ... also ranks 13th on the list (2016) ... owns three top-20 finishes this season, including a 2nd-place finish at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate ... has eight career top-10 finishes ... ranks 8th on the career stroke average list at Purdue (73.69).
- Jarle Volden ... ranks fifth on the team in stroke average (74.54) ... posted back-to-back top-20 finishes this spring (12th at Desert Mountain; 17th at Hootie at Bulls Bay) ... carried Purdue in last year's NCAA Stillwater Regional, sitting in eighth after two rounds ... leads the team with six eagles ... recorded a hole-in-one in the 3rd rd. of Desert Mountain (4th hole).
