UK's Johnny Owens Inv. next stop for men's golf

by Shane Sadler
The Post

If green grass doesn't work, try blue grass.

This is what Ohio men's golf team is going to do today when it tees off at Kentucky's Johnny Owens Invitational. This is the team's first recorded competition since finishing a lackluster 17th of 19 teams at the Silver Springs Invitational in Ocala, Fla. on March 11 and 12.

Head Coach Bob Cooley said there was nothing to blame for the Bobcats’ performance in Ocala but poor play.

"The weather was perfect and the course was fairly easy and in great shape," Cooley said. "We had a great practice round and I thought we would definitely be in the top four or five, then we just had a horrible weekend."

"One thing that does hurt us as a team when we play a course that is not real challenging is we do not make a lot of birdies," Cooley said. "That is what you have to do to compete at those type of events."

Ball State and Indiana were the co-hosts of the event, which Kent won. The Golden Flashes shot a two-day total of 856; 40 strokes better than the Bobcats.

A.T. Spires was the team's top finisher. With a score of 223 for three rounds, he tied for 55th place. Aaron Bickle was just one stroke behind, tying for 63rd. Chad Collins of Methodist shot a 10 under 206 to claim medallist honors at the event.

Cooley said he believes that his team's trip to Pinehurst, N.C. during Spring Break really prepared the players well for this week's event.

"We got to play some outstanding and tough courses down there," Cooley said. "And we had a 10-round qualifier to see which five players would compete in the Johnny Owens, so the kids were concentrating hard the whole time."

There were few competitions against other teams during the week. Ohio did sneak in matches against Towson and Campbell, however. Both teams fell to the Bobcats by more than 20 strokes.

The team knows it will see much stronger foes in this tournament, which Cooley described as very important.

"This is a big tournament for us," Cooley said. "Right now we are ranked 13th in our district and a few of the teams ranked above us will be there, including Marshall, who we are 3-1 against this year, and Miami."

The Bobcats finished third at this event in 1999, and were on their way to victory when a storm delayed the final nine holes. The weather cleared, but the team faded to third.

Jeff Chadwell, Tyler Duke, Erik Herberth, Joe Hill and Spires will compete in the invitational this year.

Cooley said he is waiting for one of these guys to step up and score low for an entire weekend.

"We have a couple guys that need to start playing how they are capable of playing," he said. "We also need someone to just catch fire and shoot under-par for the weekend."

Cooley believes the Bobcats main competition should come from Notre Dame, Miami, and Kentucky.

"Those are all very good teams," Cooley said. "But knowing that we finished third there last year gives us a lot of confidence going into (this) afternoon."