BEREA, OHIO -- After a third-place finish at last year"s Ohio Athletic Conference Championship Tournament, the Baldwin Wallace University men"s golf team will rely on four returning letterman in its quest for an OAC Championship in 2010-11.
"Our goal as a team is to compete to win the OAC title," said second-year Head Coach Tom Heil. "We have a talented group of upperclassmen and very good senior leadership. I look forward to having the chance to compete for a title."
Heil returns seven players overall but will have to fill two of the top spots in his lineup due to the graduation of three seniors, including All-OAC performers Nick Bryan and Mike Falk.
"The lineup is wide open this year," said Heil. "I'm excited to see who has improved this summer. The guys playing the best golf when practice starts will be the guys that make the lineup."
In his first season at the helm of the Yellow Jacket program, Heil led BW to a fine overall record of 60-25-2 and third-place finishes during both the OAC regular season and championship tournament. Overall, BW had six top-five finishes and was runner-up in three consecutive tournaments in April..
Expected to lead this year's squad will be senior Matt Weiss (Concord/Mentor). Weiss posted a team-best stroke average of 77.31 during the spring season and shot a school-record round of 68 at the Nye Intercollegiate in late April. He was second on the team during the fall with a 76.50 average and he placed 16th individually at the 2010 OAC Tournament (79+76=155) in May. Weiss also earned OAC Men's Golfer of the Week honors during both the fall and spring campaigns.
"Matt is a very talented golfer and a big hitter," said Heil. "When his short game is on, he has a chance to the best golfer in the OAC. He is a great young man who is very respected by his teammates."
Joining Weiss as returning lettermen are fellow senior Brian Routhieaux (Gibsonia, Pa./ Mars Area), junior Ricky Jaskolski (North Royalton/Padua Franciscan) and sophomore Stephen Spalding (Stow/Walsh Jesuit).
Routhieaux averaged 83.25 strokes per round in the spring, including a season-best of 78 at the OAC Spring Invitational. In the fall, he averaged 81.63 in four tournaments with a season best of 77. Routhieaux also earned Academic All-OAC At-Large honors for the second straight year and carries a 3.97 grade point average. Heil will count on Weiss and Routhieaux to lead the team in 2010-11.
Jaskolski averaged 81.63 in the fall with a best-round of 78. He improved in the spring and averaged 79.69 per round, which was good for third on the team. He also shot a best-round of 77 on three separate occasions. Jaskolski finished tied for 16th at the OAC Tournament in the spring (77+78=155).
Spalding had a solid freshman campaign and averaged 79.00 for the spring and fall seasons combined. Spalding earned a spot in Heil's lineup at the OAC Tournament and carded rounds of 83 and 80 to finish tied for 30th as an individual. He shot a season-best 74 at the Ohio Wesleyan University Invitational in the fall.
Also looking to break the starting lineup are junior Kyle Lewis (Riverside, Calif./Riverside Poly) and sophomore Connor Cronkite (Fairview, Pa./Erie Cathedral Prep).
Lewis recorded an average of 85.50 over 12 rounds of golf and shot a season-best 78 at the OAC Fall Invitational. Cronkite played in five tournaments and averaged 82.80 strokes per round with a season-best of 75 at the Denison Invite in the fall.
Heil also welcomes freshman Chris Nader (Westlake) to the mix. "I am excited to see what kind of summer Chris had and I look forward to seeing him compete for a chance in the lineup."
BW will open the season at the John Carroll University Invitational at Fowlers Mill Golf Course in Chesterland on Sunday, September 5. The OAC Fall Invitational also will be held at Fowlers Mill on Saturday and Sunday, September 18-19.
"Senior leadership will be the difference between competing for a championship or being middle of the pack in the OAC," said Heil. "Teams that overachieve tend to have great senior leadership while many teams that underachieve have poor senior leadership."
FOR MORE BW Sports Information, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
