2003-04 Season Outlook – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Dec. 10, 2003
The Ohio State men’s golf team enters the 2003-04 season in the hopes of improving upon an impressive 2002-03 campaign that saw the Buckeyes post six Top 5 finishes, a record of 108-88-3 and a third-place finish at the 2003 Big Ten Championships.
“I think our play toward the end of the season got much better,” head coach Jim Brown said. “We finished third in the Big Ten and I thought that was a good finish. Even though we didn’t qualify for the NCAA championships, I thought our play at the regional championships was very good.”
Although the Buckeyes failed to qualify for the NCAA championships last season, the men appear poised to make a trip to the NCAA championships for the first time since 1998 and bring home their first Big Ten championships since 1997.
This season the Buckeyes return everyone from the squad last year, which just missed qualifying for the NCAA championships by five strokes. Leading the way for the men this season are seniors Zach Doran and Kevin Hall. Both posted career-best years for the Buckeyes.
Between Doran and Hall, the two posted a combined total of 75 rounds and placed first on the team 12 times throughout the 2002-03 season. This season the two look to improve upon last season’s total, while providing the squad with experience, something the Buckeyes lacked at the start of the 2002-03 season.
“We have really good senior leadership in Zach and Kevin,” Brown said. “Zach had a wonderful year last year and I’m looking for him to be a leader this season along with Kevin. They don’t say a whole lot, but they are the two hardest workers on the team and they are ready to get started.”
Along with Doran and Hall the Buckeyes return Justin Collins who competed in 36 rounds as a junior, while posting a scoring average of 73.6. In three years prior to his redshirt season in 2002-03, Collins posted a total of 77 rounds with a scoring average of 76.5.
The return of Collins gives the Buckeyes three players who could potentially see action from week-to-week in the Top 5, however, beyond Doran, Hall and Collins the final two spots in the Top 5 have the potential to change from week-to-week.
This season, Ohio State returns an array of talent including Scott Anderson, David Vallina, Peter Riddell, Dave Bieterman and Zach Randol all of whom saw significant action during the 2002-03 season.
The Buckeyes also will look to senior Brett Williams, who has been one of the surprises heading into the fall season and should crack into the Top 5. Earlier this fall Williams was crowned as the 2003 Tom Weiskopf Fall Match-Play champion, which is an intra-squad event held at the beginning of the season.
Of the individuals returning, redshirt sophomore Scott Anderson appears to have the early season edge, as the Montana native enters the 2003-04 season after posting an impressive summer. This past summer, Anderson captured first-place honors at the Shelby Pro Amateur, finishing the summer with an impressive average of 70.3.
“You’re going to have to bring your game to be in the Top 5 this season,” Brown said. “Any time we have competition to make the team, we usually have had a pretty competitive team. The guys who want to practice hard and dedicate themselves to the game are the type of guys who are going to play.”
This fall the Ohio State men’s golf team also welcomes the addition of four freshman to the team in Colin Biles, Jared Jones, Kyle Sawicki and Jamie Miller all of whom carry impressive high school resumes, and will look to make an immediate impact.
“They all have tremendous high school and junior golf records and they have done well in national tournaments,” Brown said. “They are our future, along with the guys we recruited for the 2004-2005 season.”
Brown expects Biles and Jones to step in and make an immediate impact for the Buckeyes this season.
“They both have shot some good scores,” Brown said. “Jared is one of the best high school players in the country his senior year. Collin was probably one of the Top 2 players in the state last year and he shot some very low scores in tournament competition last season. I don’t think either of the two expect to redshirt this season and they are both real positive and they both feel as if they can come in and help the team this season.”
The 2003-04 season figures to be yet another challenging year for the Buckeyes as they will compete in some of the top tournaments in the country.
“We play a competitive schedule,” Brown said. “There is no easy tournament on our entire schedule. In order for us to play against the best in the spring at the NCAA championships we must prove to that we can beat the best.”
The Buckeyes begin the season in Ann Arbor, Mich. site of the 2004 Big Ten Championships, as they compet in the Northern Intercollegiate to face off against fellow Big Ten rivals. The Buckeyes conclude the fall season in Wilmington, N.C., in the Landfall Classic.
Highlighting the second half of the season for the Buckeyes will be return trips to Gator Invitational, Matlock Classic, Shenkel EZ-GO Invitational, Kepler Intercollegiate and Fossum Invitational, where the Buckeyes placed 13th, fifth, 15th, first and fifth, respectfully.
“Our goal this season is to win the Big Ten,” Brown said. “Every year we tee it up I feel as if we are going to win the Big Ten. We’ve talked to the team about our goal and I don’t think there is any reason why we can’t make a real run at the conference title this season.
