MSU golf finishes second at Folds of Honor: "We can play with anybody in the country."

GRAND HAVEN – The Michigan State men's golf team was in position on the final hole to complete a late comeback and get an impressive tournament win on Wednesday.

But the final few putts that needed to fall on 18 barely stayed out of the cup, leaving the Spartans to settle for a tantalizingly close second-place finish at the Folds of Honor Collegiate at American Dunes in Grand Haven.

"Considering how we started and where we were at, to get ourselves in position on the 18th tee, I thought we were going to close it from there," MSU coach Casey Lubahn said. "I think we tried a little too hard, but today it just didn't work out. That's sports. This is an incredibly hard golf course and playing at home is an incredible challenge. They hung in as long as they could but just didn't execute when it mattered."

Trailing by one entering the 18th, the Spartans pulled even with the Fighting Irish when senior Bradley Smithson birdied the par-5. And with all the Notre Dame golfers already in the clubhouse, MSU just needed to pick up one more stroke from its final three players coming down 18 to win the event.

First, graduate student Drew Hackett's third-shot chip caught just enough of the back hill on the 18th green to roll all the way down. He nearly recovered from there, but his par putt missed by centimeters, putting MSU one stroke back again.

The Spartans still had chances with birdie putts from junior Ashton McCulloch and senior August Meekhof, but both putts stopped just short of the cup.

MSU finished at 8-over par, one shot behind Notre Dame and two ahead of Arkansas. South Carolina was fourth at 15-over, followed by Arizona at 18-over.

MSU entered Wednesday's final round with a three-stroke lead, having put themselves in that position by posting a team total of 5-under-par 279 on Tuesday, surging from 10th place to first in the 18-team field. The Spartans then were around the lead with the Razorbacks for much of the final round before a huge late charge from Notre Dame.

The Irish put together five pars, four birdies, and one eagle on the final two holes to make a leap from sixth to first.

Meekhof was the Spartans' top individual performer, finishing at 1-over-par and tied for sixth overall. He was just two shots behind medalist Cecil Belisle of Kansas, while four other golfers finished at even-par.

"Our coaches have had such a huge impact on me with the mental and technical aspect of the game," Meekhof said. "... The whole team atmosphere is striving to be better than everyone. We want to keep the competitive juices flowing and stay ready for the next event."

Smithson and McCulloch both finished tied for 12th place at 3-over-par, while Hackett finished tied for 16th at 4-over MSU's final golfer, freshman Lorenzo Pinili, finished at 11-over-par.

MSU's performance shows the depth its roster, considering Smithson, who is the Spartans' fifth golfer, had their best individual score on the final day with a 1-under 70.

"We're really good even when we are sloppy, which we were in two of the three rounds," Lubahn said. "But we can beat the best teams in the country, that's clear. To play against the best we'll just have to be a little bit better. When we settled in (Tuesday), they were clearly playing as well as anybody here this week. When you look at the teams that were in this field, we can play with anybody in the country."

MSU will be back on the course Sept. 15-17 at the Fighting Illini Invite at Olympia Fields North in Olympia Fields, Ill.

Contact Nathaniel Bott at nbott@lsj.com and follow him on Twitter @Nathaniel_Bott

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU golf finishes second at Folds of Honor tourney by one stroke