Ohio State Prepares for Landfall Tradition – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Oct. 26, 2006
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Columbus, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s golf team will travel to Wilmington, N.C., this weekend to compete in the Landfall Tradition. The event will be played at the par 72 6,982-yard Jack Nicklaus Course at the Country Club of Landfall. UNC-Wilmington will be the host school for the tournament.
Practice rounds will be held Thursday. Each team will play 18-holes Friday-Sunday. Teams will tee off at about 8:15 a.m. Friday and Saturday and at about 7:30 a.m. Sunday.
Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Memphis, Missouri, UNCW, Ohio State, Purdue, Tulsa, VCU, Virginia Tech and Xavier make up the tournament field.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Complete tournament results will be available on the internet at ohiostatebuckeyes.com at the end of each day and live scoring will be available at golfstat.com
THE OSU LINEUP
Colin Biles
Jared Jones
Dan Rush
Jack Tyler
David Vallina
NOTING THE BUCKEYES
Colin Biles – In the team’s third tournament of the 2006-07 season at the Oklahoma Intercollegiate, Biles tied for 23rd individually and was second on the Buckeyes with a 231 total. Biles also tied for second in par 3 scoring (-1). Biles led the Buckeyes in scoring in nine out of the team’s 12 tournaments played in 2005-06 while also leading the team with a stroke average of 73.4. He finished in the Top 20 individually in seven tournaments with his best finish (T4) coming at the Fossum Invitational, (4/22-23, 2006). Biles was selected to the NCAA Central Regional competition as an individual and earned second team All-Big Ten honors in 2005-06.
Jared Jones – In his first tournament of 2006-07 at the Oklahoma Intercollegiate, Jones shot a three round total 235 and tied for 32nd individually. Jones played in four tournaments for the Buckeyes in 2005-06 and had a 76.4 stroke average with his low round of 75 coming at the Duke Classic Oct. 9-10, 2005.
Dan Rush – Rush led the Buckeyes Oct. 15-17,at the Oklahoma Intercollegiate with a 224 total and finished in seventh place individually. The seventh place finish was a career best for the sophomore. Rush qualified for 10 of the team’s 12 tournaments in 2005-06. His low round of 70 and best finish (T49) came at the Big Ten/Pac-Ten Challenge, Oct. 3-4, 2005.
Jack Tyler – At the Oklahoma Intercollegiate, Oct. 15-17, Tyler tied for 28th individually with a three-round total of 233. Tyler was named to the Academic All-Big Ten team and was an Ohio State Scholar Athlete in 2005-06. He was tied for second on the team in stroke average with a 76.5. His low round of 69 and best finish, tied for 10th, came at the Inverness Invitational, Sept. 19-20, 2005.
David Vallina – Vallina has played in two of the team’s three tournaments this season and has a stroke average of 79 with a low round of 75 coming at the Gopher Invitational, Sept. 16. Vallina played in six tournaments in 2005-06 and he had an average that was second-best on the team (75.7). He shot a low round of 72 twice and his best finish individually was a tie for 15th which came April 22-23, 2006 at the Fossum Invitational.
OKLAHOMA INTERCOLLEGIATE RECAP
The Ohio State men’s golf team finished tied for fifth place at the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Oct. 17. The Buckeyes shot 919 (304-304-311) at the par 71, 7,417-yard Oak Tree Golf Club in Edmond, Okla. The tournament was hosted by Oklahoma University. Tulsa won the event with a score of 889 (305-289-295).
Ohio State’s Dan Rush shot an even-par (71) during the second round. With a three-round total of 224, he led the Buckeyes and finished in seventh place individually.
Colin Biles tied for 23rd with a total of 231 for the Buckeyes. Biles tied for second in par 3 scoring (-1), third in par 5 scoring (-2) and also tied for third in total birdies with 10.
Sam Korbe (Tulsa) won medalist honors with a 6-over par 219 total.
MEET COACH BROWN
Now in his 34th year as the Buckeyes’ head coach, Jim Brown has built the Ohio State golf into one of the finest and most respected collegiate programs in the nation.
The numbers are impressive. Under Brown’s guidance, the Buckeyes have qualified for the NCAA tournament 30 times, 11 times finishing in the Top 10, while claiming one national championship in 1979.
Ohio State also has dominated Big Ten play, winning 23 conference titles. The Buckeyes claimed their 23rd title in 2004 with a five stroke victory over Illinois. Ohio State also claimed the team title at the 2004 Marshall Invitational to give Brown 156 tournament wins during his tenure.
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. Most recently, Brown was named 2004 Big Ten Coach of the Year for the third time in his career. Prior to his 2004 Big Ten honor, Brown captured back-to-back coach of the honors in 1995 and 1996.
He also coached the NCAA All-Star Team that competed in Japan in 1979 and the 1999 Palmer Cup team that defeated a team of top collegiate players from Great Britain and Ireland.
THE NEWCOMERS
Ohio State welcomes three newcomers to the roster this season; transfers David Cape and Zach Sebert along with freshman Patrick Simard.
David Cape- Cape is a transfer from the College of Canyons in California where he helped lead his team to the Western State Conference Championship in 2005. In high school, Cape was the 2004 Foothill League MVP and scoring leader.
Zach Sebert- Sebert was a 2006 Division III All-American for Otterbein College. He was selected to the All-OAC team that was 2006 OAC Champions. He led all of Division III in sub-par strokes per round.
Patrick Simard- Simard is a freshman from Madrid, Spain. He was a Regional Champion (Spain) in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001 and was Spain’s National Champion in 1996, 1997 and 1998. Simard had a total of 14 national first-place finishes in Spain.
SEVEN QUESTIONS WITH COACH BROWN
What is it like to play at the Landfall Tradition?
“Landfall has been a great destination for our team each of the last four years. It is a treat to travel where there are so many extraordinary Ohio State alumni and supporters. Each and every resident of the Landfall community goes out of their way to welcome us. The Nicklaus Course provides a stern test and we will give great effort to finish this fall season on a strong note.”
What does the Big Ten competition look like this season?
“Northwestern is the defending Big Ten Champion. Minnesota returned most of its players back. Purdue has everyone back. Michigan State is returning its top players. It’s pretty even. Northwestern and Minnesota are probably the Top 2. We have to play our best and reach our potential.”
How does the Scarlet Course look after its completion?
“I have heard nothing but good things from golf writers all over the world. They say it might be the best course in Columbus, layout and toughness-wise. We’re not sure what a good score is yet. We’re looking forward to hosting the Kepler (4/14-15/07) and the Big Ten Championships (4/17-19/07) and bringing in top players and seeing what they can do. It’s probably the hardest course we’ll play anywhere. We think everything else should seem fairly easy. When you’re done playing Scarlet, you’ll use all 14-clubs in the bag.”
How does it feel to be hosting the Big Ten Tournament?
“Northwestern did a good job hosting it last year and we have to do an even better than that this year.”
How does it feel to be hosting the Kepler?
“All of the Big Ten will be there but Minnesota. Louisville, Notre Dame, SMU, and South Carolina will be there as well. It’s the toughest field we’ve had in a while.”
What did you tell the seniors with this being their final season?
“This is their year to shine. It is their last go-around and we tell them to put everything they have into it, have passion for the game and go out with a bang, especially with the Big Ten Championships here this year.”
How difficult is the schedule this season?
“It’s the 33rd most difficult schedule in the country. We will be tested week in and week out. The golf courses are really good and tough but we’ll never shy away from competition. There is at least one Top 10 team in each tournament we play. There is no easy tournament on our schedule.”
