Sparks Up Close:
An experienced player who quickly adapted to the college game when he joined the Titans... Will again battle for regular playing duty as a senior... Has worked hard since his freshman year to add distance off the tee... Relies heavily on his touch around the greens… A good student of the game who manages the golf course well… Knows how to play within himself...
Last Season:
Saw action in the Titan lineup six times as a junior… His best overall performance came at Cleveland State, when he tied for 48thplace with a season-low 231 total… Fired a 73 in the closing round at CSU, his best tally of the year and one stroke away from matching his college-low round…
As A Titan:
Did not play as a sophomore while working on swing changes… Saw action in all 11 of the Titans’ tournaments as a freshman... Finished the year with a 77.9 stroke average... His best 18-hole score (72) and 54-hole total (221) both came at Ball State’s Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational as Sparks helped the Titans to second place in the 18-team field that fall... Had his top individual finish on the leader board when he tied for 14th place at the 2007 Fort Lauderdale Spring Classic... That was Sparks’ initial Top 20 finish as a collegian… Closed out the year with a solid, one-over 73 at the NCAA West Regional at Arizona State...
Personal:
Aligned himself with the Titans during the NCAA’s November, 2006 early signing period, right after the conclusion of his senior golf season in high school... Finished second at the Division III State Championships that fall, leading to his fourth appearance on the All-State Team at season’s end... Also finished runner-up in Regional competition... Won the 25-team Gaylord Classic early in the 2005 high school season... One year earlier, was fifth at the state finals and won the Metro Conference crown... Like UDM senior teammate David Byrne, Sparks won one of the two Michigan local qualifiers to earn a berth in the 2004 U.S. Junior Championship at the famed Olympic Club in San Francisco... Caddied for his classmate, Byrne, at the 2008 U.S. Amateur Championship in Pinehurst… Was 17th at the Michigan Junior Amateur in 2004, then third in 2005 and 12th a year later... Picked up Top 30 finishes at the AJGA Buick Junior each of his last two summers before college... Qualified for his second straight Michigan Amateur in 2006... Loves college basketball’s “March Madness” almost as much as he does golf... Majoring in Business Administration...
