Cummings paces Men's Golf in first round of ONU Invitational

By Gary Petit

ADA — Senior Chase Cummings continued his strong play, firing a 74 to pace the Ohio Northern men's golf team in the first round of the 2008 ONU Invitational at the Colonial Golfers Club.

The Polar Bears are in ninth place after round one with a 315. Owens Community College leads the field with a 300, followed by Mount Union at 303 and Northwood (Mich.) at 306.

Cummings' round of 36-38—74 has him in a tie for seventh heading in to the final round. Teammate Phil Makowski, playing for ONU's "B" team, also carded a 36-38—74, the lowest round of his young career.

Sophomore Joel Metzker, playing for the ONU "B" team, carded a 39-39—78 and will start round two tied for 23rd. Senior Ben Kretz was the only other Polar Bear to break 80 on the day, carding a 39-40—79. Kretz sits in a tie for 33rd.

Northwood's Brad Elliot battled the rainy conditions and posted a 2-under 33-37—70 to lead by one shot heading into the second day.

The first round was interrupted by an hour and 45 minute lightning delay that left the course wet and made conditions tough for the rest of the round.

The tournament will conclude on Sunday with a 10 am shotgun start.

Team Scores
1. Owens C.C. 300, 2. Mount Union 303, 3. Northwood (Mich.) 306, 4. Heidelberg 308, t5. John Carroll 311, t5. Baldwin-Wallace 311, t7. Otterbein 314, t7. Capital 314, 9. Ohio Northern A 315, 10. Wilmington 318, 11. Ohio Northern B 319, 12. Findlay 321, 13. Shawnee State 325, 14. Manchester (Ind.) 328, 15. Mercyhurst (Pa.) 330, 16. Defiance 349.

Top 5 Individual Results
1. Brad Elliot (Northwood) 33-37—70, t2. Zack Koinis (Heid) 35-36—71, t2. Jason Nussbaum (MtU) 34-37—71, t4. Jason Smith (Owens) 38-35—73, t4. Lucas Murray 37-36—73, t4. Alex Stansell (Ott) 37-36—73.

Ohio Northern Individual Results
t7. Chase Cummings 36-38—74, t33. Ben Kretz 39-40—79, t43. Wes Immler 39-41—80, t52. Andrew Rahirg 42-40—82, t63. Tom Repicky 41-43—83.

Ohio Northern B Individual Results
t7. Phil Makowski 36-38—74, t23. Joel Metzker 39-39—78, t52. Kevin Duffy 37-45—82, t71. Brock Prater 41-44—85, t79. Paul Morbitzer 44-43—87.