Team Effort: Chippewa Golfers Dominant in Winning Motor City Matchup

Photo by: Andy Sneddon

Photo by: Andy Sneddon

Photo by: Andy Sneddon

Photo by: Andy Sneddon

Photo by: Andy Sneddon

Photo by: Andy Sneddon

Photo by: Andy Sneddon

Photo by: Andy Sneddon

Photo by: Andy Sneddon

Photo by: Andy Sneddon

Team Effort: Chippewa Golfers Dominant in Winning Motor City Matchup

10/13/2026 10:17:00 PM | General, Women's Golf, Men's Golf

Results Photo Gallery

CMU captures 19 of 24 matches over two-day event at venerable Birmingham Country Club

By: Andy Sneddon

BIRMINGHAM, Mich. – Outstanding performance in an outstanding event.

Smiles, handshakes and hugs all around for Central Michigan Golf as the Chippewas rolled to victory on Tuesday under summer-like conditions in the 3^rd Annual Motor City Matchup at Birmingham Country Club.

Playing under sunny skies with temperatures in the low 80s, the Chippewas won nine of 12 matches over Green Bay in capturing the title of the unique co-ed match-play tournament at the venerable course in suburban Detroit.

It was CMU's first Motor City Matchup title after second-place finishes in each of the past two seasons. The Chippewas opened with a 10-2 victory over Alabama State in Monday's semifinal, then didn't miss a beat in topping the defending champion Phoenix on Tuesday.

"We're really excited to get this one done," CMU women's coach Ryan Williams said. "This is a special event to us and to the men's team. It's always fun to play side by side with the men's team.

"It's a unique experience to be able to do that and to come out and play really well, have all 12 of them play really solid golf and to get a convincing win is really special."

CMU got victories from Dimitri Protopapas, Milly Pantepin, Awesome Burnett, Benjamin Shin, Lexi Schulman, Rachel Niskanen, Elise Fennell, Philippe Yturralde and Mya Morgan on Tuesday.

Several of the Chippewas won going away. Shin and Fennell cruised to 7 and 6 victories, Niskanen captured a 7 and 5 win, Burnett claimed a 5 and 4 win, Pantepin won 4 and 2, Schulman posted a 4 and 3 victory.

Protopapas and Yturralde each won 2 and 1, and Morgan won 1 up.

Yturralde and Morgan, playing as CMU's No. 1 seeds, provided the biggest dramatics. Yturralde, a senior, was 1 down through 13 holes and then won three consecutive holes to close out his opponent; Morgan, a freshman, was 3 down through 10 holes and then won four of the next six holes to surge ahead.

The results were similar to the Chippewas' Monday win over Alabama State, when they dropped just two of the 12 matches played with the Hornets.

In all, the Chippewas won 19 of the 24 matches they played over the two-day event.

"What we saw this week is a culmination of what was going on for us for the entire semester," CMU men's coach Kevin Jennings said. "We were picking up bits and pieces at each event, doing some things that we wanted to accomplish at each event, and it's nice to bridge it all together."

Eight Chippewas – Yturralde, Morgan, Fennell, Shin, Schulman, Burnett, Protopapas and Pantepin -- went 2-0 in the Matchup.

"With the ladies and with the guys, I saw a lot of resiliency, a lot of competitive energy out there, a lot of fight, and it was wonderful to see on both sides," Jennings said.

Phenomenal Fall Continues
It marked the third victory in four fall tournaments for the CMU women. In the only tournament they did not win this fall, they finished second in a strong 15-team field at the Michigan State Mary Fossum Invitational.

The Chippewas close the fall portion of their season Oct. 19-20 at the Dayton Flyer Invitational in Kettering, Ohio.

"It doesn't take a lot of words for me to get them ready," Williams said. "They're always ready to play. Just a reminder to go one at a time. I think that's kind of the theme of the season, one at a time.

"They did that and that's why we had success. We didn't get ahead of ourselves; we stayed patient and just went one at a time.

"It's exciting and it's really impressive to see the way they operate, the way they play. We show up and we take care of business. Each and every one of the women on the team, they know what they're capable of, and they're rising to the occasion. But again, it goes back to one at a time. We're going to keep doing that, shot by shot, tournament by tournament, and hopefully keep building on this really good season that we have going."

Men Finish Strong
It was the final event of the fall campaign for the Chippewa men, who return to action in February when they go to Puerto Rico for the Palmas del Mar Collegiate.

There are six new faces on Jennings' eight-player roster, with Yturralde and Aydan Downer the lone returning veterans.

"We are beginning to piece it together here and there," Jennings said. "Of those six new guys, only one of them had (NCAA) Division I experience. So we're getting them all to understand what this D1 golf thing is all about, getting bits and pieces together, learning how to actually play golf and not just hit a golf ball.

"These guys are doing that, and it's indicated in their scores. We're looking forward to now going back to the drawing board and having saw our mid-year evaluations and get ready for the spring.

"We're looking for a harvest, but remember to get a harvest you've got to till the ground and break it up to plant that seed."

Jennings said he was particularly pleased with several of his players who either came from behind to win, or gained early leads and stepped on the gas throughout the tournament.

"I saw guys who got down in some matches, and I saw some guys who got up in matches and went deeper and went farther up," he said. "Guys who got down and turned it around and continued to fight and actually came out ahead.

"These are all things that we can build on going forward. We'll enjoy it, and we really look forward to picking this apart and getting back to the drawing board and getting back to work."

Gracious Hosts
The event was again a smashing success, and for that both Williams and Jennings extended deep gratitude to Birmingham Country Club staff and member/hosts Rocky and Traci Ricelli, longtime backers of CMU Golf.

"Birmingham is an awesome golf course," Williams said. "It's so well conditioned, it's a great layout, it's a very special course to play a college event on. We love coming here; the members and all of the staff treat us really well and they get the course dialed up for us and ready to go. It's always special for us.

"Rocky and Traci, you can't say enough about them. They support our program so generously and they love this event and they put a ton of time and effort and energy into it. Never enough thank yous for Rocky and Traci Ricelli."

Said Jennings: "Well, No. 1, I want to thank them for dialing up the wonderful weather. Two, Rocky and Traci work exceptionally hard, along with the Birmingham Country Club -- the staff, the grounds crew, the pro shop -- everybody here does such a wonderful job of welcoming not only us, but those that we invite to the event. It's a very wholesome and loving environment that everyone is enjoying and we look forward to many more years."