ORLANDO, Fla. -- Big Break X: Michigan was a home game of sorts for Casey and Rachel Lubahn (Oxford, Ohio). They each played golf at Michigan State University and, until recently, he was an assistant golf coach for the Spartans.
“This is like home. This is what people do in Michigan, they go up north,” Casey said of playing at Boyne Highlands Resort in Harbor Springs, Mich. “It provides a little of an advantage, too. We know the winds and the grasses, so we are more familiar with the conditions.”
Unfortunately, familiarity wasn’t enough of an edge as the two Spartans were eliminated from the GOLF CHANNEL series by Amber Prange (Noblesville, Ind.) and Robby Shaw (Louisville, Ky.) in Tuesday night’s episode. The two teams were tied after an elimination challenge in which each duo played from five locations, forcing a playoff that started at the fifth location, a 305-yard tee shot. Shaw drove the green to set up Prange’s eagle putt from 18 feet that sent the Lubahns packing.
Elimination by Episode:
Show 1: No Elimination
Show 2: No Elimination
Show 3: Andrea VanderLende/James Vargas eliminated by Sherri McDonald/ Michael Michaelides
Show 4: Rachel Melendez/Otis Smith eliminated by Sally Dee/David Mobley
Show 5: No Elimination
Show 6: Sherri McDonald/ Michael Michaelides eliminated in a three-team Elimination Challenge
Show 7: Casey and Rachel Lubahn eliminated by Amber Prange/Robby Shaw
“Robby’s shot still impresses me and I hope all the folks at home appreciate how fantastic it was,” Casey wrote in a GolfChannel.com blog. “He told us afterwards that he felt like they had to do something special to beat us, and he certainly did. I hope that shot gives him the confidence to chase his dream knowing he can hit the big shots under heavy pressure.”
The Lubahns were the only married couple in the series, which seemingly proved to be an in a competition that relies on teamwork.
“It’s very comforting to know that regardless of the kind of shot I hit, he is always going to be there to back me up,” she said. “Even if it is a poor shot, or we get faced with an Elimination Challenge, I don’t have to wonder if I am going to make him mad. We will be able to go through it together and I have his support regardless of the outcome.”
The two met in 2003 at Michigan State where both played for the Spartan golf team. At first, Rachel thought Casey was a bit cocky, but after spending more time together they started seriously dating in 2004. Three years later, they were engaged and wed in August 2007.
“In the end, our Big Break was not meant to be,” Casey wrote. “However, four days after we returned home, I did receive my big break as I was named the head coach at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. While my dream of playing the tour may have died on episode seven, my dream of leading a great university’s golf program was truly life changing. We continue to be proud of the fact that our marriage was more important to us than the show, and I hope we handled ourselves accordingly.”
Episode eight will air next Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET when the remaining four teams face off to avoid elimination and continue in the 11-episode series.
The series’ 10th season features eight two-person teams, comprised of a male and female, facing grueling competition in which they could win a lifelong dream at the risk of losing a lifelong friendship. The winning team’s female will earn an exemption to play in the 2009 Bell Micro LPGA Classic, while the male will compete in the 2009 Children’s Miracle Network Classic presented by Wal-Mart. Hosted by Stina Sternberg and Billy Ray Brown, Big Break X: Michigan will re-air Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET.
The Big Break concept showcases highly skilled golfers competing against each other in a variety of challenges that test their physical skills and mental toughness, with the ultimate winner awarded his/her “Big Break,” a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete in select professional tournaments, and other career-building prizes.
Past Big Break champions have won their chance to compete on some of the world’s top professional circuits, such as the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, European Tour, LPGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and Canadian Tour. Former winner Tommy Gainey will compete for the second consecutive year on the PGA TOUR in 2009 while previous female Big Breakers will play on the LPGA Tour.
For its 10th season anniversary, Big Break X: Michigan returns to the destination where it all began – northern Michigan. Known as “America’s Summer Golf Capital,” Michigan boasts some of the nation’s most distinguished golf courses, some of which feature dense forests, shifting sand dunes or portions of the longest fresh-water coastline in North America. The series was shot at Boyne Highlands Resort, a member of the Boyne Resorts family of resorts and attractions, located in the community of Harbor Springs.
For more information, please contact Mark Mitchell at 407-355-4063, or mmitchell@golfchannel.com.
