Ball State University Athletics
Men's Golf Hosting EY Match Play in Florida
February 08, 2015 | Men's Golf
The Ball State men's golf team is back in Dade City, Fla., to host the fourth annual Earl Yestingsmeier Match Play. The action begins Monday at Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club.
Formerly known as the Mid-American Match Play, the event was renamed this year in honor of long-time Ball State men's golf coach Earl Yestingsmeier, who passed away in January 2014.
The Cardinals won this event in 2012 and 2014 and finished runner-up in 2013. It will be their first action since closing out the fall portion of their schedule in October.
The eight-team tournament includes two rounds Monday and the final round Tuesday. Play is set to begin each day at 8:30 a.m. on Lake Jovita's South Course with live scoring available at birdiefire.com.
Coach Mike Fleck's Ball State team is the No. 5 seed based on its Golfstat ranking and will square off in the opening round with No. 4 seed Seton Hall.
The other first-round contest in Ball State's half of the draw features No. 1 seed Eastern Michigan versus No. 8 seed Florida Atlantic. The other side of the bracket will see No. 2 seed Miami University face No. 7 seed Ohio and No. 3 seed Toledo meet No. 6 seed Dayton.
Every team will play three matches on the par-72, 7,153-yard layout. Winners will advance in the championship bracket, while losing teams will continue competition in the consolation bracket.
Each team match will consist of six individual matches. The Cardinals' lineup features seniors McCormick Clouser and Zach Yinger, junior James Blackwell, and a trio of freshmen – Michael Makris, Michael VanDeventer and Johnny Watts.
Yestingsmeier, the tournament's namesake, spent 36 seasons leading the Ball State men's golf program, including 31 in a dual role as sports information director and golf coach. He guided the Cardinals to 107 tournament titles and 11 NCAA Tournament appearances before retiring in 1998. For his success, he was enshrined in the Ball State Athletics, Golf Coaches Association and Indiana Golf halls of fame.
