After 10 holes in the fourth round of the Mid-American Conference Championships, Ohio men's golfer Grant Christman was four-over-par, following bogeys on holes two and three with a double-bogey on hole 10.
Christman responded by carding a birdie on four of the remaining holes to finish tied for seventh overall, the best finish by an Ohio player since 2002.
We had been working pretty hard all spring
Christman said. More than anything golf is just a fine line between playing well and playing not well. Things just clicked.
As a team, the Bobcats finished eighth overall with a 72-hole score of 1196 (292-295-303-306). Ball State played host to the tournament, which was took place at the par-72, 6,994-yard Brickyard Crossing.
Christman carded a 292 (73-73-74-72) while fellow junior Mark Cimarolli finished three strokes behind with a score of 295 (74-72-75-74).
Cimarolli's performance was good enough to tie for 15th place.
I think we got a little too aggressive Cimarolli said. The third day was the hardest in terms of pin placement.
Also competing for Ohio were seniors Brian Bickle and Jon Johasky. Bickle's first-round 71 was the best round for any Bobcat. He finished with a 304 (71-77-78-78) while Johasky accumulated a 309 (74-74-79-82).
Rounding out the Ohio five was sophomore Mark Phillips. In his first MAC Championship appearance, Phillips ended with a 311 (76-76-76-83).
After the second round on Thursday, Ohio was in fifth place. Johasky said that coming back from behind was difficult because of the course layout.
The course played really tough
Johasky said. The pins were in really tough positions.
Before the tournament, Johasky said that to win, Ohio was going to have to cut down the mistakes. Throughout the weekend, the Bobcat players accumulated 76 bogeys and 23 double-bogeys or worse.
We made too many mistakes
Johasky said. We had too many big numbers.
I know we had a lot of doubles and triples
Cimarolli said. Everyone in the tournament had at least one double or triple in every round.
Kent State led the whole way as the Golden Flashes finished with a 1153 (286-289-283-295). A pair of Kent players tied for first place
Marc Bourgeois and Tommy Wiegand. Bourgeois and Wiegand each finished with a three-under-par 285.
In obtaining the team's second consecutive MAC Championship
the Flashes had four players place in the top 15.
Ball State was the runner-up as they finished 12 over
1164 (290-290-293-291).
Kent State now advances to the NCAA Central Regional at Sand Ridge Golf Club in Chardon. The regional tournament is played May 18-20
and is the fourth-straight regional appearance for Kent.,",17,Archives,Corey Ryan,",",",",",","
13882,2006-05-08 06:00:00,Softball: Team limps into postseason,",Before this season began
the prognosticators picked the Ohio softball team to finish dead last in the Mid-American Conference.
Someone forgot to tell the Bobcats.
For the first time since 2004
