Buckeye Dan Charen Takes Gold at Pan American Maccabi Games – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/9/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Feb. 9, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Competing in the 12th annual Pan American Maccabi Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Ohio State senior Dan Charen claimed individual and team gold while representing the United States. Tallying a total score of 277 over the four days of competition, Dec. 27-30, Charen dominated the par 70, 6,227-yard Clube de Campo de Sao Paulo, one of three golf courses in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
A regional competition for Jewish athletes, the Pan American Maccabi Games are held every four years and focus on celebrating Jewish traditions and heritage through sports.
Blogging throughout his journey to Brazil, Charen wrote that while the course’s views alone were well worth the trip, it was overall a difficult terrain to master.
“The course was definitely not a walk in the park,” Charen wrote. “The layout took us up, down and across mountainous terrain, and being in the rainforest we battled random rainstorms just about every day.”
Regardless of the challenges, Charen posted consistent scores of 70, 69, 66 and 72 during the competition, finishing 3-under par.
Golf, however, was just a part of the overall experience Charen had while in Brazil. Charen, along with the other participants, took part in an opening ceremony similar to what athletes experience at the Olympic Games. Along with the opening ceremony, numerous events planned at the games gave participants the opportunity to interact with fellow athletes from around the world.
“It is really difficult to put into words what it was like to walk into an arena full of people cheering for you,” Charen wrote. “During the ceremony, athletes from all of the different countries were busy trading clothing and gear with each other. It’s a pretty big deal at the games to see what different and cool things you can trade for. All in all it was a really fun night.”
On the course, the United States swept the competition with Andrew Larkin and Robert Schiller taking second and third, respectively. The team totaled a final score of 1191, defeating runner-up Venezuela (1293) by a landslide.
Charen will return to action for the Scarlet and Gray Feb. 10-11 with the Big Ten Match Play Championships at The Concession Golf Course in Bradenton, Fla., which was designed by Buckeye great Jack Nicklaus.
