Bobcats finish fourth at Owens Invitational

by Shane Sadler
THE POST

Three Ohio golfers finished in the top 20 to lead the men's golf team to a fourth-place finish at the Johnny Owens Invitational in Lexington, Ky.

The Bobcats finished three rounds at Kearney Hills Golf Links with a score of 889. That score was better than 12 teams, including fellow Mid-American Conference members Miami (903), Ball State (907) and Akron (930). Marshall led the way for the MAC shooting 882 and placing second only to Louisville (876).

Ohio Head Coach Bob Cooley said Louisville's first-place finish was really surprising, but added that the Cardinals are very familiar with the course.

A bell-curve would be the best illustration of the Bobcats' performance. The team shot 6-over-par in the first round and 7-over in the third round. A 12-over-par second round is what knocked Ohio out of a second- or third-place finish, however.

Cooley said he believes there were a couple of causes for the team's second-round swoon.

"I would say fatigue had a lot to do with it," he said. "Playing two rounds on Friday meant that we were on the course for about 12 hours; couple that with the fact we had to finish the second round on the toughest part of the course. That is probably the best explanation for the high scores."

Marshall's Sam O'Dell won medalist honors at the tournament with a 5-under-par score of 211. In 12th place, Joe Hill was the Bobcats top finisher, shooting a 221. Erik Herberth and Tyler Duke tied for the 18th spot, tallying 224 strokes apiece. Jeff Chadwell (226) and A.T. Spires (227) rounded out the scoring for Ohio.

Hill said he thought the team played well but easily could have finished higher.

"I think we should be pretty pleased with how we played, there were a lot of good teams at that tournament," he said. "However, I think we could have easily placed second or third, but we did not finish well and the second round did not go very well."

Hill added that the Bobcats should be excited about the future.

"This is our second top-five finish of the spring and we still have a lot of room for improvement," he said. "I am very excited about our next tournament because I think we are getting better and better, which should open the door for a win sometime soon."

Cooley agrees that the team has the capability to seriously contend for the top spot in an upcoming tournament.

"Our finish this weekend can be attributed mostly to our play from tee to green," he said. "We are a really good team and as soon as our putting comes around and we get one or two of these guys to shoot a really low round, it will allow us to be strong competitors at each event."

Huntington, W.Va., will be the site of the Bobcats next competition. They play in the Marshall Invitational on April 7 and 8.