Men’s Golf sits third after good opening round at the OAC Championship

By Gary Petit

HARROD — The Ohio Northern men’s golf team carded a solid round of 312 and sits third after the opening round of the 2008 Ohio Athletic Conference Men’s Golf Championships at the Colonial Golfers Club.

The field was marred by a steady eastern win for most of the day, which caused some high numbers.

Mount Union, the defending OAC Champions, navigated its way through the tough conditions for a round of 307 and lead Otterbein (310) by three-shots. ONU is certainly within striking distance, just five-shots back, as the Polar Bears will play in the final group tomorrow.

Senior Chase Cummings and junior Ben Kretz paced the Polar Bears with rounds of 76 and are in a five-way tie for third.

Cummings got off to a slow start by bogeying four of his first seven holes, but finished the round with nine pars, a bogie and a birdie for a round of 40-36—76. Kretz was steady all day, leading the field with 14 pars and just four bogies on his way to a 37-39—76.

Freshman Phil Makowski, coming of a pair of career-low 74s at the ONU Invitational last weekend, continued his solid play, carding a 38-40—78. Makowski will start the final round tied for tenth.

Senior Wes Immler carded a pair of 41s en route to an 82 and is tied for 18th while junior Andrew Rahrig rounded out the Polar Bear five with a 43-41—84.

The race for medalist honors is tight as 13 players are within five shots of the lead. Mount Union’s Nate Mullen and Otterbein’s Mike Ruffing hold that lead after the first round as each carded a 74.

The top-ten golfers at the end of the championship will earn All-OAC honors and the team champion will earn the OAC’s automatic berth in the 2008 NCAA Men’s Golf Championships.

“I think we played a good solid round today,” said ONU head coach Tony Gholson. “I think if we get the whole team to play well tomorrow, we have a good shot of winning. I am excited about tomorrow because the conditions are going to be tough again and I think that favors our team because of our course knowledge.”

The final round will begin Friday morning at 10 am at the Colonial Golfers Club. The forecast for round two is a high of 75 degrees with a 50 percent chance of morning thunderstorms.

Team Scores
1. Mount Union 307, 2. Otterbein 310, 3. Ohio Northern 312, T4. Baldwin-Wallace 325, T4. Heidelberg 325, 6. John Carroll 328, T7. Muskingum 340, T7. Wilmington 340, 9. Capital 348.

Top 5 Individual Results
t1. Nate Mullen (MTU) 74, t1. Mike Ruffing (Ott) 74, t3. Ben Kretz (ONU) 76, t3. Chase Cummings (ONU) 76, t3. Zach Koinis (Heid) 76, t3. David Lilly (Heid) 76, t3. Jason Nussbaum (MTU) 76.

Ohio Northern Individual Results
t3. Ben Kretz 76, t3. Chase Cummings 76, t10 Phil Makowski 78, t18 Wes Immler 81, t28 Andrew Rahrig 84.