The Bobcats may not have accomplished their goal of winning a Mid-American Conference Championship, but they left the tournament with their heads up.
Ohio finished fourth, shooting a plus-31 1183 in the four-round tournament at the Brickyard Crossing Golf Course in Indianapolis, Ind.
Overall I thought we played pretty solid
coach Bob Cooley said. The first day we were really competitive and then tailed off a little but I thought we did well.
The Bobcats went into the weekend in third place.
Ohio posted quality scores on Friday and Saturday with a plus-9 297 and a plus-5 293. It wasn't enough to keep up with Kent State and Eastern Michigan, however. Toledo also came on strong to move ahead of the Bobcats.
If we could have eliminated some really bad holes we definitely could have finished in third and even competed for second place
junior Chad Warmbein said. We all just had mistakes that you can't make if you want to contend.
Like Warmbein said, bad shots held the Bobcats back.
Ohio had nine double bogeys in the tournament, and also three triple bogeys.
Kent State ran away with the tournament title after shooting a minus-16 1136. They finished 19 strokes ahead of second-place Eastern Michigan and 47 shots ahead of the Bobcats.
We knew they were going to be good going into the tournament
Cooley said. They just hit the ball down the middle and do very well on the greens.
The top finishers for Ohio were Pittsburgh natives Chuck Nettles and Warmbein. Nettles tied for the best score in the final round, shooting a three-under 69.
Warmbein was named second team All-MAC.
I had a bogey and a double bogey at one point in the round
Nettles said. I definitely could have seen that score be even lower.
Next season, Ohio returns its entire conference championship squad. The Bobcats lose only one impact golfer with senior James Ellis graduating.
We definitely gained some respect around the conference this weekend
Warmbein said. I think they all know that we're going to be able to contend next year.
2
Sports
Will Frasure
