Men’s Golf To Get Season Underway – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/18/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Sept. 18, 2000
%^$Inverness Invitational Tees-Off season
%^$The Ohio State Men’s Golf team opens the 2000-01 season at the Inverness Invitational in Toledo, Ohio, Sept 18-19. The Buckeyes are coming off a 125-76-2 campaign that concluded with their 15th place finish at the NCAA Cental Regional last May. OSU is one of the more experianced Big Ten teams, returning six golfers that saw action last season%^$
%^$Regional Recap
%^$Ohio State shot a three-round total of 874 at the regional to place 15th in the field of 27. David Wagenseller (Jr., Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) led the Buckeyes, shooting a 217 (+4) to tie him for 40th place.%^$
%^$The University of Texas won the event with a score of 847 (-5), edging out Kent State by two strokes. Kent State’s Jon Mills was the medalist, shooting a 202 (-11), five shots better than Oklahoma’s Cody Freedman.%^$
%^$OSU Sweeps at FirstEnergy Invite
%^$The highlight of the 1999-00 season was the FirstEnergy Invitational in Akron, Ohio(April 22-23). Ohio State claimed both the team and individual titles at the Invitational, firing in an 869 to finish five strokes ahead of Kent State. OSU had three of the top four finishers at the invitational, hosted by the University of Akron at the renowned Firestone Country Club.%^$
%^$Wagenseller was the medalist, carding a 214 to edge out Kent State’s Ben Curtis’ total of 215.%^$
%^$Wagenseller was the first OSU medalist since Ryan Armour won the Big Ten tournament in 1998 and the 35th since 1974. Mike Austin (Sr., Burton, Mich/Flint Powers Catholic) and Jason Oien (Jr., Westerville, Ohio/Westerville North) tied for third place with a score of 216.%^$
%^$The win marked the 151st tournament victory for coach Jim Brown at Ohio State and the 36th different tournament the Buckeyes have won under him.%^$
%^$Austin, Wagenseller All-Big Ten
%^$Wagenseller and Austin became the 78th and 79th Buckeyes to be named all-Big Ten during Coach Brown’s 27 year tenure.%^$
%^$OSU joined Northwestern and Purdue as the only schools in the conference to have two golfers named to the team of 10. Wagenseller’s stroke average of 73.2 over 39 rounds led the Buckeyes. He was named Big Ten Golfer of the Week after he captured first place at the FirstEnergy Invitational in Akron, Ohio (April 22-23) with a score of 214, including a tournament-low round of 68 in the first round of the invite, to become the first OSU medalist since Ryan Armour won the Big Ten tournament in 1998. Wagenseller’s FirstEnergy win capped off three consecutive weekends that saw him card his best career finish. His career-low round of 67 came in the first round of the Red River Classic (Oct. 11-12). He was top OSU finisher in seven of 11 tournaments.%^$
%^$Austin’s stroke average of 74.4 over 33 rounds was second on the team. His top finish of the season came at FirstEnergy Invitational, where he placed third with a score of 216. He also fired in his career-low round of 70 in the first round of the FirstEnergy. Austin was the top OSU finisher at the Big Ten Championships, placing seventh with a score of 297.%^$
%^$Familiar Faces
%^$In addition to Wagenseller and Austin, OSU returns Jason Oien (Jr., Westerville, Ohio/Westerville North), Ryan Dennis (Jr., Stow, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit), Justin Collins (So., Ironton, Ohio) and Scott Miller (Sr., Middletown, Ohio/Middletown. Oien was third on the team with a stroke average of 74.7 over 39 rounds. Dennis was a tenth of a point behind at 74.9 and Collins had an average of 75.7. Miller tied for 19th when OSU hosted the Kepler Invitational last April.%^$
%^$New Faces
%^$Four freshman were added to the Ohio State roster in the offseason. Scott Anderson (Great Falls, Mont.),Kevin Hall (Cincinnati, Ohio), Drew Issac (Blue Ash, N.C.) and A.J. Quinter (Minster, Ohio) are all entering their inagural season in the collegiate ranks. Anderson was crowned Montana State Champion his sophomore and junior years and was runnerup last season. Quinter, Issac and Hall also come to Ohio State with impressive resumes.%^$
%^$Next Up
%^$Following the Invereness Invitational, the Buckeyes are next in action when they travel to Champaign, Ill. to compete in the Northern Intercollegiate Invitational Sat., Sept. 30 – Sun., Oct.1. On Oct. 9-10 Ohio State will be in Dallas, Texas for the Red River Classic. The Buckeyes conclude the Autumn portion of the schedule at the Iron Duke, Oct. 16-17, in Durham, N.C.
