After a month-long hiatus filled with rainfall and swamp-like conditions at Athens Country Club, the Bobcats will tee off at the NYX Hoosier Invitational in Bloomington, Ind., and search to gather momentum for the final three weeks of the season.
Ohio will face off against Mid-American Conference foes Akron and Toledo, along with Oakland, Butler, Xavier, Western Illinois, Evansville, Illinois State, Youngstown State, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and course host Indiana.
The last time the team golfed competitively was March 11, as the Bobcats placed 8th out of 10 teams in the Pinehurst Invitational. Ohio coach Bob Cooley mentioned he would like to see his team finish in the top five this time around.
“The weather has dictated how much we’ve been able to practice,” he said. “We haven’t gone out and hit as much as I would like to, but we’ve had qualifiers for the past two weeks and it’s been pretty competitive.”
The lineup for Ohio includes freshmen Peyton White and Ty Herriott, junior Andrew Mlynarski and seniors Bradley Lucas and Phil Giesker.
White and Mlynarski will seek their second consecutive top-20 finishes since tying for 18th in the Pinehurst Invitational. Lucas will look to bounce back from his 45th-place finish at Pinehurst, while Herriott will return to the lineup since placing 81st at the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate on Feb. 18.
Giesker, who transferred to Ohio in the spring of 2011, will shoot against his former school, Oakland, for the first time since joining the Bobcats.
“I don’t think he’ll be worried about (Oakland),” Cooley said. “He’s going to be focused on his play and the course.”
The tournament’s format at the Indiana University Golf Course will include a standard three round, 54-hole event, as the Bobcats will play 36-holes on Saturday and 18 on Sunday.
With the season coming to a finish, Cooley is looking for the team to prove themselves in the next few weeks and is willing to switch up the lineup for the last two tournaments.
“Next week we’ll be heading to Ball State and I’ll be bringing seven guys with me,” Cooley said. “It’ll really be up to the guys who wants to be in the lineup for us."
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Fast Facts:
-Since the start of the spring season, Ohio has not finished in the top half in any tournament
-Last time Ohio teed off: March 11
-Senior Phil Giesker will be facing his former team, Oakland, for the first time since transferring to Ohio
