Ohio State Men’s Golf Returns to Action In Gainesville – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Jan. 28, 2004
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s golf team returns to action Saturday in Gainesville, Fla., at the 2004 Gator Invitational. The event will be held at the par 70, 6,701-yard University of Florida Golf Club.
The 54-hole tournament begins at 8 a.m. on Saturday with a shotgun start followed by second round competition, which begins at about 1p.m. Final round competition commences at 8 a.m. Sunday.
Competing along with the Buckeyes will be Alabama, Alabama-Birmingham, Baylor, Central Florida, College of Charleston, Florida, Florida State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Kentucky, Louisiana State, North Florida, Purdue and Tennessee.
ABOUT OHIO STATE
The Ohio State men’s golf team returns to Gainesville after completing a fall season, which saw the Buckeyes finish with a record of 39-18-1, while posting two Top 5 finishes.
Ohio State opened the 2003-04 season with a third-place finish at the Northern Intercollegiate in Ann Arbor, Mich., site of the 2004 Big Ten Championships. The Buckeyes finished the tournament with a three-round total of 874.
Ohio State posted its best finish of the season in the final tournament of the season finishing in second-place at the 2003 Matlock Classic.
Brett Williams established himself as the top golfer of the fall, competing in nine rounds and averaging 71.8 strokes per round. Williams’s best finish came at the 2003 Landfall Classic were he carded a three-round total of 213.
LAST TIME OUT
Ohio State concluded the fall season with an impressive second-place finish at the 2003 Landfall Tradition. The Buckeyes’ efforts were the best since the 2003 Kepler Intercollegiate where the team finished first. The Landfall tournament marked the second time last fall the Buckeyes finished in the Top 5. The event was held at the par 72, 6,973-yard, Country Club of Landfall, Nicklaus Course, in Wilmington, N.C.
Leading the way for the Buckeyes was senior Brett Williams, who posted his second Top 10 finish of the fall season as he tied for sixth overall. Williams posted a final round of two-under-par 70 to finish the event with a three-round total of 213.
The Buckeyes also received a strong showing from Justin Collins as he finished the event 11th with a three-round total of 215.
Justin Smith of Minnesota won medallist honors with a total 208, while Minnesota captured the team title with a three-round total of 851.
RECAPPING THE 2003 GATOR INVITATIONAL
The Ohio State men’s golf team finished 13th at the 2003 Gator Invitational, which was held at the par 70, 6,701-yard University of Florida Golf Course.
Top finisher Zach Doran led the Buckeyes by firing a team-best 13-over par, 223, tying him for 22nd place.
Oliver Wilson of Augusta State took first with a three-round total of even par, 210. Augusta State also won the team title with a score of 869.
BUCKEYES ADD TWO TO 2004-05 SQUAD
Jim Brown, Ohio State men’s golf head coach, announced the addition of two student-athletes who have signed NCAA National Letters of Intent for the 2004-05 season. Kevin Grabeman of Springboro, Ohio, and Michael Haverfield of Louisville, Ky., comprise the class that will enroll at Ohio State at the beginning of the 2004 fall season.
Grabeman will enter the 2004 season after an impressive 2003 campaign that saw him post first-place finishes at the Kiawah Island Championship and the Optimist District Qualifier. Grabeman also posted a strong performance at the 2003 Harbor Town Championships, where he finished fourth and at the 2003 Kroger Championships, where he finished 15th. At Springboro High School, Grabeman earned all-state, all-area and team MVP honors during his senior year.
In two years while competing in the American Junior Golf Association, Haverfield posted nine Top 20 performances, including a first-place finish at the 2002 McDonald’s All-American Tournament in 2002. Haverfield also posted strong performances at the 2002 Junior Classic at The Pines, where he tied for second and at the 2002 Kroger Junior Invitational, where he tied for ninth. Haverfield’s St. Xavier High School, twice finished as state champions.
DORAN COMPETES IN 2003 COLLEGE ALL-AMERICA GOLF CLASSIC
At the conclusion of the 2003 fall season Ohio State senior Zach Doran took part in the 2003 College All-America Golf Classic.
The tournament, hosted by the Sun Bowl Association, was played at the Par-71, 6,781-yard El Paso Country Club. Each university is awarded a $1,000 scholarship if a golfer from that school competes in the tournament.
In a tournament, which displayed 26 of the nation’s top collegiate golfers, Doran tied for 22nd with a three-round total of 214.
NOTING THE BUCKEYES
Scott Anderson … tied for 43rd at the 2003 Barona Intercollegiate with a three-round total of 218 … competed as an individual in the 2003 Northern Intercollegiate … during the tournament, Anderson opened the season on a high note as he tied for 10th with a three-round total of 215 … during the 2002-03 season, Anderson placed 10th at the 2003 Kepler Intercollegiate to help the Buckeyes to their 23rd Kepler title … posted his career-best finish at the Matlock Classic where he finished tied for seventh … fired a career low at the Matlock Classic of two-under-par, 214.
Zach Doran … tied for 32nd at the 2003 Barona Intercollegiate with a three-round total of 215 … opened the season with a strong showing at the 2003 Northern Intercollegiate as he posted a three-round total of 220 to finish the event tied for 20th … during the 2002-03 season, Doran was named first team All-Big Ten for his consistent play throughout the 2002-03 season … tied for 11th at the 2003 Big Ten Championships.
Justin Collins … notched his best tournament of the fall season at the 2003 Matlock Classic as he finished 11th … returned to the Buckeyes after redshirting during the 2002-03 season … in his first collegiate tournament in over a year, Collins posted a strong opening performance as he tied for 15th with a three-round total of 218 … during his junior year, Collins averaged 73.6 strokes per round.
Kevin Hall … posted his best finish of the 2003-04 season as he tied for tied for ninth at the 2003 Barona Intercollegiate … finished 15th at the 2003 SMU Invitational with a three-round total of 221 … opened the season the 2003-04 season at the Northern Intercollegiate where he tied for 33rd with a three-round total of 224.
Peter Riddell … in his freshman season for Ohio State, Riddell saw extended time on the varsity squad and should once again contribute for the Buckeyes this season … posted a strong outing at the 2003 Kepler Intercollegiate and helped the Buckeyes to their 23rd Kepler Intercollegiate title opening the tournament with a 76.
Colin Biles … in first his collegiate tournament, as an Ohio State freshman, Biles competed at the Northern Intercollegiate and fired a three-round total of 226 to finish the tournament tied for 47th.
Brett Williams … posted his best career finish at the 2003 Landfall Classic where he tied for sixth with a three-round total of 213 … tied for 43rd at the Barona Intercollegiate with a three-round total of 218 … the senior appeared in his first collegiate tournament as a Buckeye during the 2003 SMU Invitational, where he placed seventh with a three-round total of 216.
30 YEARS AND COUNTING
This past season, men’s head golf coach Jim Brown completed his 30th year at the helm for the Buckeyes. Throughout his tenure, Brown has established the Ohio State men’s golf program as one of the top programs throughout the country.
Since his first year in 1973, Brown has directed the Buckeyes to 16 Big Ten titles and one national championship, while compiling an overall record of 5,196-1,388-29.
2002-03 SEASON IN REVIEW
Ohio State completed another successful season under the direction of head coach Jim Brown, which marked Brown’s 30th year as head coach. Led by Zach Doran and Kevin Hall, the Buckeyes posted six Top 5 finishes including their 23rd Kepler Intercollegiate championship. After the season, Doran was named first team All-Big Ten, 2003 Ping All-America Honorable Mention and Ping Midwest All-Region after compiling a scoring average of 71.8 per round. The Buckeyes concluded the season at the 2003 NCAA Mideast Regional where they finished 14th.
MEET COACH BROWN
Now in his 31st year as the Buckeyes head coach, Jim Brown has built Ohio State golf into one of the finest and most respected collegiate programs in the nation.
Under Brown’s guidance, the Buckeyes have qualified for the NCAA tournament 29 times, 11 times finishing in the Top 10, while claiming one national championship in 1979. Ohio State also has dominated Big Ten play, winning 16 conference titles.
When the Buckeyes won the national title in 1979, it marked the first time in nearly two decades a northern school claimed the championship. Brown proved the 1979 season was no fluke as the program finished fourth in the NCAA’s in 1980, 1983, 1987, and again in 1997.
Brown earned National Coach-of-the-Year honors in both 1979 and 1986, and was named District IV Coach of the Year in consecutive seasons from 1977 through 1980 and again from 1982 through 1987.
His greatest personal achievement, however, came in 1989, when he was elected to the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame. Two years later, he was inducted into The Ohio State University Athletic Hall of Fame.
The winningest coach in Ohio State golf history, Brown has tutored one NCAA individual champ (Clark Burroughs – 1985), 11 Big Ten medallists, 86 All-Big Ten selections, 14 first team All-Americans and 49 other All-America honorees during his stay on the Columbus campus.
He is married to Tina Lankard and has two children, Julie, who is an Ohio State grad, and Jeff, a former member of the golf team and 1999 Ohio State graduate.
UP NEXT
The Ohio State men’s golf team returns to action Feb. 17-18 to compete in the Matlock Classic in Lakeland Fla.
