Football isn't the only Ohio University sport with a new look this fall.
The OU men's and women's golf teams will feature some new ingredients as well. The men and women are anchored by experience heading into today's Bowling Green Piper Intercollegiate tournament and the Marshall Invitational, respectively. However, new and returning talent adds a new element to the golf equation.
Head Coach Bob Cooley said the return of key players, such as sophomore Brian Dillard and fifth-year senior Brian Bickle, should make the team much better. Bickle red-shirted last year, Cooley said.
I don't think the freshmen are gonna have an impact right away
but you know as the season goes along they'll be picking up opportunities Cooley said.
Cooley said the way this and other tournaments are set up makes it hard to get those opportunities for young players.
We only play five guys
and we count the best 4 out of 5 scores each round
Cooley said.
Dillard's initial collegiate campaign was cut short because of injury, but he said the setback proved to be beneficial.
I fractured my hand right before the spring season
Dillard said. It taught me not to take anything for granted. I came in thinking that I was just gonna be one of the best
as I was in high school
but that simply wasn't the case. I went from being a big fish in a small pond to a minuscule fish in a giant pond.
Dillard said consistency will be the key to his success this year.
Lindsay Bergman is a true freshman, who, like Dillard, was a star in high school. Bergman said it did not take her long to make a distinction between the level of golf she is playing now and that which she played a year ago.
Everyone is just as good as or better than you
Bergman said. You can't worry about what other girls are gonna shoot.
