2015 Contestants

2015 Invitational Field

Adam Anderson - Kalamazoo, Michigan
Tom Werkmeister - Kentwood, Michigan

Ross Babel - Breckenridge, Colorado
Joel Pellowe - Kalamazoo, Michigan

John Barry - Portage,, Michigan
Mark Shoenborn - Grand Rapids, Michigan

Seth Berliner - Kalamazoo, Michigan
Brett Williams - Baldwin, Maryland

Gregor Blix - Kalamazoo, Michigan
Chad Phillips - Purdue University

Brian Burt - Kalamazoo, Michigan
Erik Nelson - Richland, Michigan

Otto Black - University of Toledo
Mathew Smith - Birmingham, Michigan

Michael Chafty - Kalamazoo, Michigan
Santiago Gomez - Armenia, Colombia

Patrick Colburn - Traverse City, Michigan
A.J. Todd - Portage, Michigan

Bert Cooper - Kalamazoo, Michigan
Nicolas Echavarria - University of Arkansas

Ben Liggett - Mattawan, Michigan
Ryan Vliek - Kalamazoo, Michigan

Chris Cunningham - Milford, Michigan
Jack Rider - Grand Valley State University

Kevin Shugars - Mattawan, Michigan
Andrew Yeager - University of Michigan

Ben-Marvin Egel - Purdue University
Jamie Schnur - Portage, Michigan

Matt Alessi - Royal Oak, Michigan
David Brownback - Haslett, Michigan

Blake English - Charlotte, Michigan
Matt Kruzich - Mattawan, Michigan

Bob Kramer - Kalamazoo, Michigan
Matt Garland - Battle Creek, Michigan

Nate Golomb - Belmont, Michigan
Bryan Hayward - Grand Rapids, Michigan

Ken Hartley - Cave Creek, Arizona
Gates Muller - Michigan State University

Isaac Hinkle - Kalamazoo, Michigan
Jeff TenBrink - Kalamazoo, Michigan

Tyler Rayman - Otsego, Michigan
Bryan VandenBerg - Battle Creek, Michigan

Jason Falk - Kalamazoo, Michigan
Brett White - Eastern Michigan University

Greg Gagie - Kalamazoo, Michigan
Jose Narro - Bowling Green University

Brett McIntosh - University of Michigan
Luke Stull - Kalamazoo, Michigan

Chris O'Neill - University of Michigan
Craig Stull - Kalamazoo, Michigan

Dan Kucab - Edmond, Oaklahoma
Travis Lovins, Canadian, Texas

Kurt Sprague - Byron Center, Michigan
Ricky Shilts - Kaufman, Michigan

Alec Tahy - University of Arkansas
John Wyma - Washington DC

Rick Schell - Battle Creek, Michigan
Mitchell Wandell - Plainwell, Michigan

Colin Joseph - University of Toledo
Ted Rider - Portage, Michigan

Mitch Wilson - Portage, Michigan
Zac Zedrick - Oxford, Ohio

Dan Hinkle - Kalamazoo, Michigan
Charlie Green - Michigan State University

NICOLAS ECHAVARRIA
Nicolas is hoping the third time is the charm. He is teaming with long-time KCC Invitational contestant Bert Cooper. Nico and KCC member Steve Verduzco were semifinalists in 2014. Nicolas had a successful summer in 2014. He won the Mexican Amateur held at Yucatan Country by 12 strokes with rounds of 69-68-70-65 to shoot 16-under par. He tied for 16th at the Western Amateur at the Beverly Club through four rounds of stroke play and lost in a playoff to advance to the 16-player match play tournament. He represented Colombia at the 2014 World.Amateur Team Championships in Japan. Nicolas is an international relations major at University of Arkansas.

BRETT MCINTOSH
We welcome Brett back to the KCC. He will team again with fellow University of Michigan student, KCC’s Luke Stull. Brett finished his junior year shooting 16-of-28 rounds at-or-below 72 and one under 70. He is a recipient of the James W. Carras Endowed Men’s Golf Scholarship. He posted one top 20 finish this past year. Brett is a native of London, Ontario and was a member of the 2009 Golf Association of Ontario All-Provincial Team. He is enrolled in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts as a general studies major.

MATT ALESSI
Matt, a University of Michigan graduate, is playing in his fourth KCC Invitational.. He received Academic All-Big Ten recognition for Spring 2013 for the second year in a row. He also won the Tom Trueblood Award Most Improved Player for 2013 along with the U-M Athletic Academic Achievement Award. He competed in 12 events with 2 rounds under par. His scoring average for the year was 75.71, while his scoring average for his collegiate career was 76.98. He had four top-20 finishes in his career along with one top-10 finish. At the Colleton River Collegiate in March, he tied for 8th place shooting rounds of 85-75-73. He placed 54th at the 2013 Big Ten Championships where he fired 78-79-79-78. This was his career best 72-hole tournament. He also placed 51st in the Puerto Rico Classic last season shooting a 224 for three rounds. Alessi tallied a career best 54-hole tournament total of 216 (69-73-74) at the Hoosier Invitational. He was the second alternate at 2011 U.S. Amateur Championship qualifier (72-73/145) and also qualified for the 2010 U.S. Amateur (71-71/142).

BEN-MARVIN EGEL
Egel enjoyed a successful fall campaign at Purdue University, recording a pair of top-five finishes. He is an Academic All-Big Ten honoree and a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar majoring in kinesiology. He maintains a leadership role on the Boilermaker Athletic Council. He was also chosen to be one of three student-athlete representatives from the Big Ten to the new NCAA Division I autonomy governance structure. "These are very exciting times for student-athletes, with the opportunity to have a voice at every level of the NCAA structure," Egel said in a Purdue press release. "It's an honor not only to go to the meetings, but to have a voice and a vote at the NCAA convention. I'm very excited about this opportunity to represent Purdue University, the Big Ten Conference and all of its student-athletes.” Ben-Marvin will team again with KCC’s Jamie Schnur.

CHRIS O’NEILL
2014 finalist Chris O’Neill will be playing in his third KCC Invitational with Dr. Craig Stull. He will be a senior at the University of Michigan. As a junior, he started in all 12 events - posted three top-20 finishes, two top-10 and one top-five. He was named to the Academic All-Big Ten (2015, 2014), U-M’s Leaders of Distinction Honoree, U-M Athletic Academic Achievement Award (2015, 2014, 2013) and was the recipient of the Hugh M. Wright Golf Scholarship. He is a psychology major in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts.

Brett White
The Eastern Michigan senior will play in his first KCC Invitational teaming with KCC member Jason Falk. Brett was the EMU Eagles most consistent scorer with an average of 73.62 strokes per round. He finished inside the top-10 on two occasions, while posting nine rounds of par-or-better. White was an all-state golfer at East Kentwood High School in Grand Rapids and was also an All-State selection in ice hockey for 2010-11 season. He is majoring in supply chain management.

Andrew Yeager
University of Michigan’s Andrew Yeager hails from Grand Rapids. He was a member of the two-time Forest Hills Central MHSAA Division I State Championship team (2009 & 2011) and the State Runner-up team in 2010. He was amed to the All-State Super Team in 2011. He received the U-M Athletic Academic Achievement Award (High Honors) all three years and was Academic All-Big Ten his sophomore and junior years. He has chosen business administration as his major, and is a senior. He teams with KCC Invitational Champion Dr. Kevin Shugars who won the 2010 tournament with Andres Echavarria.

Chad Phillips
Chad returns to partner again with KCC’s Dr. Gregor Blix. While attending Mitchell High School in Bloomington, Indiana, Phillips was a three-time conference champion, 2012 Indiana state champion and a three-time regional qualifier. He was a member of the 2013-2014 Big Ten All-Academic Team at Purdue University, and is an Evans Scholar. He plans to major in turf management.

Alec Tahy
Alec Tahy is from Dayton Ohio. He was a redshirt freshman at University of Arkansas. He was a three-time All-State selection at Archbishop Alter High School. He became the youngest player in the 104-year history of the Ohio Amateur to qualify and play all four rounds in 2008, breaking the previous record held by Jack Nicklaus at the age of 14. Alec is a finance major. He is playing in his first KCC Invitational with John Wyma.

Gates Muller
Gates was a four-year letter winner at Traverse City West High School and a first-team all-state selection as a senior. He holds Traverse City West’s low scoring average record. He is a member of the Michigan State University Golf Team. He was named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team in 2015. He will be playing with Ken Hartley.

Charlie Green
Charlie will team up with partner Dan Hinkle. He is the grandson of Michigan Golf Hall of Fame’s, Pete Green, who won the Michigan Amateur four times across four different decades. Charlie is a member of the Michigan State University Golf Team and was named to the Academic All-Big Ten team this spring. He is majoring in finance.

Jose Narro
Jose Narro is a resident of Tampico, Mexico. He posted a team best 73.22 average at Bowling Green State University. He was named to the 2015 All-MAC First Team and finished in a tie for 10th-place overall at the 2015 MAC championships with a 72-hole score of 291 (+3). He carded a career-low round 66 twice this season. He is majoring in either business administration or in supply chain management. He will be teamed with two-time champion Greg Gagie.

Colin Joseph
Colin will team up this year with Ted Rider. Colin is a 2014 graduate of Loveland High School. He made first team all-state as a senior as well as Conference Player of the Year and Team MVP. At University of Toledo, he has shot par or better on two occasions. He was named to the UT Dean’s List in Fall 2014. This sophomore plans to major in marketing.

Otto Black
Otto is a 2012 graduate of Pinckney High School and earned all-state honors after posting a 74.8 stroke average. He is a senior at University of Toledo. He was named MAC freshman of the year in 2012-13 and is three-time All-MAC (first-team in 2014-15, second team in 2013-14 and 2012-13). He is majoring in business. He will be partnered with Matt Smith.