2000-01 Men’s Golf Season Outlook – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/7/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
%^$Coach Jim Brown expects his team to act its age this season.%^$
%^$After losing most of active roster from the 1997-98 team that finished sixth nationally, OSU essentially started from scratch the next season, finishing fifth at the Big Ten tournament and failing to qualify for the regional tournament for the first time under Brown.%^$
%^$OSU progressed last season, qualifying for the Central Regional, but placed fourth at the Big Ten tournament.%^$
%^$Brown knew there would be growing pains for this team, but he is expecting the 2000-01 edition of the Buckeyes to show they have grown into a team that can challenge for the Big Ten Title and return to the success OSU has been accustomed.%^$
%^$”We lost all of our players three years ago,” he said. “I knew this group would take a couple of years to get their feet under them and mature. I’m looking for a lot of good things from this team this year because we have the whole team back.%^$
%^$”I think we’re adding a few players that can help us and hopefully some of the guys that didn’t play last year will be able to help.”%^$
%^$OSU returns its top seven players from a season ago, including All-Big Ten selections David Wagenseller (Jr., Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) and Mike Austin (Sr., Burton, Mich/Flint Powers Catholic).%^$
%^$Wagenseller led the Buckeyes in scoring last season with an average of 73.2 and was the medalist at the FirstEnergy Invitational with a score of 213, which earned him Big Ten Golfer of the Week honors.%^$
%^$Austin is coming off a solid year that saw him regain the form that earned him All-Big Ten honors as a freshman.%^$
%^$After struggling to get penciled in the lineup as a sophomore, Austin was second on the team in scoring average at 74.4 last season and was named All-Big Ten for the second time, becoming just the 12th OSU two-time All-Big Ten honoree.%^$
%^$Brown is not expecting Wagenseller and Austin to carry the team, however.%^$
%^$”I’m expecting big things from everyone,” he said. “Now is the time. It’s been two years and we can’t say we don’t have any experience and we’re young anymore.”%^$
%^$After completing one of the most decorated careers in Ohio high school golf history, Justin Collins (So., Ironton, Ohio/Ironton) had an average rookie season in the collegiate ranks, finishing fifth on the team with a scoring average of 75.7. Brown expects more out of Collins this season now that he has carded 36 rounds of golf at Ohio State.%^$
%^$”I’m sure he’ll come back this year and be a really good player,” Brown said. “We’re counting on him.”%^$
%^$Jason Oien (Jr.,Westerville, Ohio/Westerville North) and Ryan Dennis (Jr., Stow, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) both played 36 rounds last season and improved steadily throughout the season. For OSU to have the kind of season that Brown is expecting, the last two spots need to be solid.%^$
%^$”They just have to keep improving for us at those last two spots,” Brown said.%^$
%^$Chris Emanuel (Sr., Ottumwa, Iowa/Oregon State) didn’t see action last season, but led the 1998-99 squad with a scoring average of 74.0. Brown is hoping Emanuel can reemerge from a disappointing season in the same fashion in which Austin did last season.%^$
%^$”Hopefully, Chris Emanuel can come back and help us,” Brown said. “I think he has a chance to help us if he works at it.” Brown said freshmen Kevin Hall (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Rita) and Scott Anderson (Great Falls, Mont./Great Falls) could contribute immediately at the fourth or fifth spot. Brown will also look for Jeff Olson (Sr., Dublin, Ohio/Robert Morris College), Brian Williams (So., Skaneateles, N.Y./Skaneateles), and Doug Wade (Jr., Lima, Ohio/Lima Central Catholic) to be in the mix as well.%^$
%^$Brown is looking for there to be competition for playing time this season that will push the top five players from week to week, something that wasn’t present last season.%^$
%^$”Last year we didn’t have anyone pushing those guys and I’ve always had guys pushing from the end to make those who are playing better,” he said.%^$
%^$Brown looks at his team’s performance last April at the FirstEnergy Invitational at Akron’s renowned Firestone Country Club as a barometer of what his team is capable of doing this season. With Wagenseller pacing the way as the medalist and Austin and Oien tying for third, OSU had three of the top four finishers at the event and Dennis tied for 13th place.%^$
%^$Another Tough Schedule
%^$Brown has always subscribed to the theory that says you have to play the best in order to be the best. That has been evident in his scheduling. This season is no different. This squad has taken some lumps during the past couple of seasons, but that will not keep Brown from taking on his usual schedule.%^$
%^$”I always play tough schedules. You want to see what’s out there and how good we have to play,” Brown said. “I want to play against the best. I want to be competitive. I don’t want to go to any small tournament as long as we can go to the big ones.”%^$
%^$For his team to make some noise in the postseason, Brown figures they must face the competition that will be there down the road.%^$
%^$”I want to see how we stack up,” Brown said. “If we want to be really good and want to do something at the NCAAs we have to schedule tough. If we want to win the Big Ten, we have to play against Top-10 teams a few times and we have to beat them.”%^$
%^$For the second-consecutive year, OSU will start the spring season a few weeks earlier than usual at the Arizona/Ping Invitational in Tucson, Ariz. (Jan. 29-30).%^$
%^$Buckeyes Aim for 17th Title
%^$As is always the case, Coach Brown and his squad will aim to win the Big Ten title this season. During Brown’s 27 years at the helm of Buckeye golf, OSU has won 16 conference titles. Eight times the Buckeyes have placed second in the Big Ten.%^$
%^$Brown thinks the 2000-01 team has as good a chance to capture the crown this season and make it 17 titles.%^$
%^$Purdue joins Ohio State as the only teams to have its top five players back from last season. Northwestern will try to win its third- consecutive title without three members from last season.%^$
%^$OSU has the experience many conference teams lack heading into the season and Brown thinks if the team plays to its potential, they could take the first-place trophy with them when they leave Champaign, Ill., March 6.%^$
%^$”I think the Big Ten is wide open this year,” he said. “If we can perform the way I think we can and the players think they can, we have a good chance to bring the title back this year.”
