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Putt-putt with Tom Izzo

By: Matt Bishop Posted: 10/07/09 8:30pm

Tom Izzo and the MSU men’s basketball team held its annual preseason media event Wednesday at Little Hawk Putting Course at Hawk Hollow Golf Course. Members of the media and the athletics department were matched up with a player for 18 holes of putt-putt fun in an effort for the media and players to get to know each other under a different set of circumstances.

The opening ceremonies were provided by Jim Nantz and Verne Lundquist of CBS Sports as they provided taped messages about the challenge, mainly joking about how awful the golf that was to follow was going to be.

It was a fierce competition from start to finish, as Austin Thornton’s team ended up winning at 14-under par. I was paired with Isaiah Dahlman and of course, with him being from Minnesota, the first thing we heard about was the Twins beating the Tigers on Tuesday. Rounding out our team was Paul Konyndyk of Spartan Magazine and Brock Palmbos of WVFN-AM.

We struggled at the beginning, but as Dahlman picked up his game, so did the rest of the team, as we finished the day at 1-under par, good for a fifth place tie. This was a great finish considering we started out 10-over par.

Things weren’t so good for Team Draymond Green, which finished at Green’s jersey number: 23-over par.

Let me tell you this: This course was pretty difficult! There was water and bunkers and some very tough greens with lots of cuts and different patterns.

Once the golf was finished, we adjourned to Izzo’s house for a catered meal and the presentation of the winner’s prize: a very large replica of MSU’s 2009 Big Ten championship ring.

All in all, it was an extremely fun day and a great way to talk with and get to know the players on a different level.

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