Otterbein WinsWooster Invite; Scots Slip to Eighth on Day Two

Joe Punturi

Otterbein College extended its day-one lead from three strokes to five on Saturday in winning the Parlor Restaurant/College of Wooster Invitational for the fifth time in the last six years, as the Cardinals finished with a 36-hole total of 608 at the par-72, 6,454-yard Wooster Country Club.

Otterbein, led by a pair of 72s from Andy Miller and Matt Cooperrider Saturday, edged runner-up Ohio Wesleyan University by five shots (613), and the remaining 15 teams were all above 620. In third was Denison University (621), while rounding out the top-five were Baldwin-Wallace College (624) and Wittenberg University (629).

For the second-straight season, Wooster was unable to take advantage of its home course, as the Scots placed eighth overall — their lowest finish of the 2003-04 campaign — which included a season-high 324 on Saturday for a 636 total.

Ohio Wesleyan’s Chad Poling earned individual medalist honors for the second-straight week. He produced 16 pars and two bogeys during Saturday’s round after an even-par 72 on Friday for a 146, a pair of strokes ahead of Miller (76-72=148) and three in front of Cooperrider (77-72=149).

Individually for Wooster, Joe Punturi carded a 79 for the second day in a row, good for a 20th-place tie (158), while Michael Tilden finished up at 77-82=159 and in a tie for 26th. Also scoring on day two were Chris Billow (81) and Andy Van Horn (82), as they came in 56th (167) and 41st (162), respectively.

Wooster’s low scorer Friday, Brandon Tylka, struggled to an 89 on the second 18 to tie for 53rd (165), and competing as individuals were Paul Hiller, who tied for 46th-place (84-79=163), and Matt Mellott, who came in a tie for 61st (91-77=168).

The Scots will get one last shot at prepping for the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships next weekend (April 24-25) at Ohio Wesleyan’s Strimer Invitational.