Unlike the past two weeks of tournament play, Ohio was unable to make any significant strides over the weekend at the Penn State Rutherford Intercollegiate.
After a 10th place finish through two rounds of play on Saturday, the final round did not help the Bobcats make any progress in the field on Penn State’s Blue Course.
Without senior Byron Firestone in the lineup in University Park, Pa., freshman Michael Engelman received an opportunity to showcase his potential in what has been unsteady fifth-spot on the team. However, the Bobcats were at a loss without their number one player.
Junior Connor Coldwater performed better than average, as he took home a tie for seventh place. He was just three shots off his career-best finish with round scores of 79-72-71 for nine-over par.
Senior Michael Lamping brought in rounds of 76-77-79, and sophomore Andrew Mlynarski, coming off his lowest 54-hole total last week in Chicago, tied with Lamping with scores of 78-77-77 for 19-over par. Both golfers sat in a tie for 40th at the conclusion of the tournament.
Freshman Brad Burgess, who is Ohio’s favored fourth man for the Mid-American Conference Championship, finished last for Ohio, whereas Engelman placed fourth for the Bobcats. Burgess tied for 63rd place and went 27-over par, while Engelman finished in a tie for 53rd at 22-over par.
Binghamton (890) took home the first-place hardware and Xavier (895) came in second. Bested by fellow MAC school, Bowling Green (908), Ohio (920) was unable to break 300 for any round, the first time since the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate in mid-February, where the Bobcats finished last out of 18 teams.
The Bobcats will host the MAC Championship in early May at Longaberger Golf Club in Nashport. The last time the MAC Championship was played at Longaberger was in 2010, when Ohio finished fifth.
ch115710@ohiou.edu
