SARASOTA, Fla. – The Concession Golf Club, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course designed in association with Tony Jacklin, recently hosted the 2012 Big Ten Match Play Championship. The annual tournament, which was played Feb. 10-11 and shown on the Big Ten Network (with additional re-broadcasts scheduled), was won by Northwestern for the third consecutive time.
The Wildcats took a 4-1-1 victory over Minnesota in the championship match at The Concession. Northwestern also defeated Penn State, Iowa and Ohio State on their way to the title in the 12-team field that included four squads ranked in the Top-50 in the final Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.
“I am an avid Ohio State fan, and The Concession is honored to have hosted the Big Ten Collegiate Match Play Championship,” said Bruce Cassidy Jr., General Manager of The Concession Golf Club. “The Concession invited golf fans from Sarasota/Bradenton to come see some of the best Division I collegiate golfers tackle the course in match play.”
Fittingly, The Concession was named after one of the great match-play moments and gestures in golf history, when Jack Nicklaus conceded a putt on the 18th green to Tony Jacklin in the final singles match of the 1969 Ryder Cup. That led to the first tie in Ryder Cup history. This iconic act of sportsmanship is now commemorated and immortalized at The Concession Golf Club, which was named “Best New Private Course of 2006” by Golf Digest magazine and is currently ranked in the top 20 Best Residential Courses in America by Golfweek.
The Concession is also a strong test of golf, and holds one of the highest Course and Slope Ratings by the United States Golf Association. The 7,474-yard, par-72 championship layout is set on 520 acres of ruggedly pristine land dotted with massive oaks and majestic pines unique to Florida. For additional information about The Concession Golf Club, visit www.theconcession.com or call 941-322-1922.
The layout, however, was to the liking of Northwestern. The Wildcats came into this year’s event as the No. 7 seed after winning in 2010 as the No. 6 seed and in 2011 as the No. 4 seed. Head coach Pat Goss also has a pedigree with match-play pupils: World No. 1 Luke Donald, a former Northwestern star who is still coached by Goss, is the defending champion at this month’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at Nicklaus-designed Dove Mountain in Arizona, and participated in the Wildcats’ recent alumni match. Northwestern now has won 13 consecutive matches at this event and is 14-1 overall at the Big Ten Match Play, with their only loss coming to Illinois in the inaugural 2009 tournament.
After the NCAA Golf Championship format changed in 2009 to include match play, the Big Ten coaches organized their own match play tournament to help provide their teams with more match play opportunities.
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