Buckeyes Swing into Historic Olympia Fields This Weekend – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Coming off win at Marshall Invite, Ohio State faces challenging field at Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Just two days after winning the Marshall Invitational to open its fall season, the Ohio State men’s golf team will tee it up again Sept. 17-19 at the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational. The three-day, 54-hole tournament will feature single rounds each day with tee times between 8-9:45 a.m. (CT) on the historic par 70, 7,157-yard North Course at Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill.
The Buckeyes enter the tournament with momentum, but face a challenging 15-team field that includes 2010 NCAA team champion Augusta State, runner-up Oklahoma State, semifinalist Florida State and NCAA qualifiers Arizona State, California, Duke, Florida, Illinois and Stanford.
Live scoring for the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational will be available on www.golfstat.com.
TOURNAMENT BASICS
Name: Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational
Course: North Course, Olympia Fields Country Club (par 70, 7,157 yards)
Field (15):
Arizona State
Augusta State
Alabama
California
Duke
Florida
Florida State
Illinois
Indiana
Northwestern
Ohio State
Oklahoma State
Purdue
Stanford
Texas
Schedule:
Friday, Sept. 17 – 18 holes (Tee times between 8-9:45 a.m. CT)
Saturday, Sept. 18 – 18 holes (Tee times between 8-9:45 a.m. CT)
Sunday, Sept. 19 – 18 holes (Tee times between 8-9:45 a.m. CT)
THE BUCKEYE LINEUP
Head coach Donnie Darr is sticking to the winning combination from the Marshall Invitational, with sophomore Jamie Sindelar, juniors Dan Charen and Alex Redfield and seniors Bo Hoag and Brad Smith traveling to Olympia Fields.
LAST TIME OUT
Ohio State had 12 of 15 rounds under par during the Marshall Invitational to set the team 54-hole scoring record at 820 (-32) and win the 41st edition of the tournament Tuesday. The Buckeyes more than doubled the previous low of 15-under (set by Louisville in 2005) while defeating runner-up Xavier by seven shots.
It is the first victory under second-year OSU coach Donnie Darr after three second-place finishes in 2009-10. The 2010 title was the 18th time Ohio State won the Marshall Invitational. The last victory at the tournament was in 2004. The last time the Buckeyes won a tournament overall with the Memphis Intercollegiate in October 2008.
Ohio State had team scores of 273-274-273 on the par 71, 6,534-yard Guyan Country Club. Each Buckeye golfer had two of their three rounds in the 60s. Jamie Sindelar tied for second at 11-under, followed by Brad Smith and Alex Redfield in a tie for seventh (-6), Dan Charen tied for 12th (-5) and Bo Hoag tied for 17th (-4).
ANYTHING YOU CAN DO …
Sophomore Jamie Sindelar capped off a stellar performance at the Marshall Invitational by finishing tied for second and firing back-to-back career-low rounds of 66. It was the best tournament finish for Sindelar, from Horseheads, N.Y., and he was close to being the second Marshall Invitational medalist in his family as his father, Joey, won the tournament in 1980, although Jamie did top his father’s score by 13 shots.
ABOUT THE OLYMPIA FIELDS/FIGHTING ILLINI INVITATIONAL
This is the fifth year of the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational and the Buckeyes’ first appearance in it. It also is the first look Ohio State will have at any Big Ten opponents with host Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern and Purdue among the 15 teams competing.
MEASURING STICK
The top three teams in the Golf World/Nike Coaches poll will be there and 10 of the top 20 teams in the nation overall – No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Augusta State, No. 8 Florida, No. 11 Texas, No. 12 Arizona State, No. 13 Florida State, No. 15 Alabama, No. 16 Illinois and No. 19 Duke. California, the first team also receiving votes in the top 25 poll, will also compete at Olympia Fields this weekend.
Recently, Golfweek released its list of the top 30 collegiate players and six of the top nine will be at Olympia Fields, including three from the top-ranked Cowboys – No. 1 Peter Uihlein (Oklahoma State), No. 4 Scott Langley (Illinois), No. 5 Kevin Tway (Oklahoma State), No. 6 Morgan Hoffman (Oklahoma State), No. 7 Bud Cauley (Alabama) and No. 9 Patrick Reed (Augusta State).
A LOOK AT THE LINKS
The Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational will be held on the North Course of the country club. Formerly the #4 Course, it was originally designed by Willie Park, Jr. After several renovations, the North Course is now a 7,157-yard, par 70 routing over a widely varied piece of Midwestern topography. The North Course, ranked among the top 50 golf courses in the United States, was renovated in preparation for the 2003 U.S. Open.
Overall, Olympia Fields has hosted 16 major championships. Former Buckeye Jack Nicklaus won the Western Open on the course in 1968.
OSU Q SCHOOL
Ohio State held its annual fall qualifying tournament Sept. 7-10 that consisted of five rounds over four days. Jamie Sindelar took the top spot with a score of 6-under 349 after closing with a 3-under 68, adding to his rounds of 70-72-67-72 during the week.
Runner-up was junior Dan Charen at 2-under and also concluded the week with a solid round of 69. Matching his final round score was senior Bo Hoag who took third at 1-over.Rounding out the top 5 were senior Brad Smith at 11-over and junior Alex Redfield at 12-over. Redfield capped off his impressive rebound – after opened qualifying with a 79, he was only 4-over through his next four rounds.
THE NEW GUY
Ryan Potter joined the Ohio State men’s golf team Aug. 5 as an assistant coach. He came to the Buckeyes after two years as an assistant coach at the University of Mississippi and a year as a volunteer coach at the University of Alabama. He is a second generation golf coach as the son of Alabama women’s golf coach Mic Potter.
A four-year letterwinner at Furman University, Potter graduated with a degree in history and received his masters in sports management from Alabama in May 2008.
UP NEXT
Ohio State will compete in its third tournament in two weeks when the Buckeyes travel to Glenville, Ill., to play in the Windon Memorial Classic, hosted by Northwestern Sept. 26-27.
