Ohio State Prepares for Duke Classic – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Oct. 6, 2006
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COLUMBUS, Ohio-The Ohio State men’s golf team will travel to Durham, N.C., this weekend to compete in the 2006 Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic. The event will be played at the par 72, 7,045-yard Duke University Golf Club. Duke will be the host school for the tournament.
Practice rounds will be held Saturday. Two rounds will be played Sunday followed by one round Monday. Teams will tee off at about 8:30 a.m. EDT each day.
Coastal Carolina, Duke, Florida Southern, Furman, Houston, Jacksonville, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio State, Old Dominion, UNC Charlotte, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington, Virginia Commonwealth and Virginia Tech 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
David Cape
Kevin Grabeman
Dan Rush
Jack Tyler
Noting the Buckeyes
Colin Biles – 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. In the team’s first tournament of the 2006-07 season at the Gopher Invitational, Biles averaged a 76 and finished tied for 23rd individually. David Cape – Cape is a transfer from the College of the Canyons in California. He played in six tournaments in the Western State Conference and averaged 78.7 strokes per round. Cape will be making his first appearance with the Buckeyes this weekend.
Kevin Grabeman – Grabeman was fourth on the team in 2005-06 with a 76.2 stroke average. His best finish was a (T36) at the Inverness Invitational, Sept. 19-20, 2005.
Dan Rush – 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 – 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. At the Gopher Invitational, two weekends ago, Tyler shot a team best 226 and was tied for 17th individually.
Gopher Invite Recap
The Ohio State men’s golf team finished the Gopher Invitational in eighth-place Sept. 19. The Buckeyes shot 916 (303-307-306) at the par 72, 7,020-yard Spring Hill golf Club in Wayzata, Minn. The tournament was hosted by the University of Minnesota.
Stanford won the event with a score of 889 (301-291-297).
Ohio State’s Jack Tyler shot an even-par (72) during the final round. With a three-round total of 226, he led the Buckeyes and finished tied for 17th place individually.
Colin Biles tied for 23rd with a total of 228 for the Buckeyes.
Colt Knost (SMU) and Zack Miller (Stanford) tied for medalist honors with a 2-under par 214 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 does the Big Ten competition look like this season?
“Northwestern is the defending Big Ten Champion. Minnesota returned most ot 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.”
What is it like playing at the Duke Golf Classic?
“It is a really good golf course. It’s always a good field. We get to see teams we don’t see much of. We should be alright.”
