Scots at OWU Invite in Final Tune-Up Before NCAC's

Following its own tournament last week, The College of Wooster golfers have one more event this weekend to tune-up for the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships May 5-6. On Saturday and Sunday, April 21-22, Wooster will be at Ohio Wesleyan University’s Strimer Invitational, an annual tourney which takes place on two courses. Saturday’s round will be held at the par-71, 6612-yard Dornoch Country Club, while Sunday’s 18 is scheduled for the Oakhaven Country Club, a par-71, 6738-yard course. Last spring, the Fighting Scots were seventh among a field of 17 teams at the OWU Strimer Invitational, and they last won the tournament back in 1998.

    Last Week: On April 13-14, Wooster shaved 18 strokes off its opening round score to break out of a three-way tie for eight-place and take sixth at the 16-team Nye Intercollegiate, held at the Wooster Country Club in Wooster, Ohio. Otterbein College made an even bigger jump in the standings Saturday, shooting a 302 as a team during the second 18 holes following a 328 to win the Scots’ annual tourney for a remarkable eighth time in nine seasons.
    The No. 21 ranked Cardinals posted a 54-over par total (630), six shots ahead of runner-up Olivet College (636), while DePauw University (645), Baldwin-Wallace College (646), Heidelberg College (647), and Wooster (648) finished in a tight pack behind them. Just a few strokes back were Denison University (654) and Muskingum College (656), rounding out the top half of the field.
    Individual medalist honors went to an Otterbein player, as Andy Miller covered the par-72, 6545-yard course in a two-under 70 Saturday. That coupled with Friday’s 79 was just enough to give him a one-stroke victory over Olivet’s Joe Kiss, who ended up six-over overall (78-72).
    The Scots’ top finisher was Matt Mellott (Baltimore, Md. / Friends School), coming in 12th among a field of 84 golfers. He turned in a team-best 80 Friday and then delivered a 78 for a 14-over 158. Mellott was joined in the 70s by teammates Erik Shoger (Cleveland Hts., Ohio / Cleveland Heights) and Pat Lynch (Naperville, Ill. / Marmion Academy), who ended up in ties for 21st (88-76) and 25th (86-79), respectively.
    Despite an uncharacteristic tie for 35th-place showing, Andy Van Horn’s (Loudonville, Ohio / Loudonville) scores counted each day (86-82) and Wooster’s other starter, Sean Glaser (McMurray, Pa. / Peters Township), tied for 31st (81-85).
    Also noteworthy, the Scots had four others participate as individuals, and one of them, Jason Greenwald (North Bethesda, Md. / Sherwood), posted a squad-low 74 Saturday to tie for 15th overall (86-74) while playing his first tournament of the season. Tim Sullivan (Bethel Park, Pa. / Seton-LaSalle), Jim Ipema (Western Springs, Ill. / Lyons Twp.), and Jon Williams (San Diego, Calif. / NA) tied for 41st (84-86), 61st (86-90), and 75th (100-86), respectively.