"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. We look forward to having the chance to compete for a title.

"The keys to our season is senior leadership and finding a solid five-man lineup and having four of the five consistently shoot a low round," said Heil.  In collegiate golf, a team consists of five golfers with the four lowest scores counting toward that day's team total.

 

"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 teams that underachieve generally have poor senior leadership."

 

Heil returns at least six student-athletes on his roster, but will have to fill two of the top spots in his lineup due to the graduation of CAPITAL ONE Academic All-District IV first-team member Brian Routhieaux and three-time OAC Golfer of the Week Matt Weiss.

 

"We lost Matt (Weiss) after the fall season as he graduated early, and that was a good decision for Matt and his family. He had a solid career. Brian was a leader and role model for our younger golfers. He was a solid golfer and an outstanding student (3.9 grade average).  We will miss both of them.

 

"This season the lineup is wide open," 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.

 

"We return at least six guys who were on last seasons roster and we have a couple of newcomers who have the talent to push our upperclassmen," continued Heil. "We look forward to the challenges ahead."

 

In his second season at the helm of the Yellow Jacket program, Heil led B-W to a overall record of 46-46 and a second straight fourth-place finish during the OAC regular season and a fifth-place finish at the OAC Tournament. Overall, B-W had six top-five finishes, including the final three tournaments of the season.  

 

Expected to lead this year's squad will be senior Ricky Jaskolski (North Royalton/ Parma Padua Franciscan), who posted a team-best stroke average of 77.55 during the spring season and shot a season-best round of 71 at the OAC Championships.  He was third on the team during the fall with a 78.11 average and he earned All-OAC honors by placing 2^nd individually at the 2011 OAC Tournament (71+71+77=219) in May. Jaskolski also earned OAC Men's Golfer of the Week for his efforts at the 2011 OAC Spring Invitational where he earned medalist honors (84+74+74=232) in April. 

 

"Ricky is a very talented golfer," 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 Jaskolski as the top returners are junior Stephen Spalding (Stow/ Walsh Jesuit) and sophomore Augie Ward (Medina/ Walsh Jesuit). 

 

Spalding had another solid season in 2010-11 and led the team in stroke average at 76.85.  He carded a three-round total of 229 at the OAC Tournament and carded rounds of 76, 75 and 78 to finish 15^th as an individual. Spalding shot a season-best 72 at the Denison University Tournament.

Ward joined the team after the fall season after transferring from NCAA Division I Kent State University and posted an 80.00 stroke average in the spring, including a season-best round of 76 at Denison.  He will battle with Jaskolski  and Spalding for the No.1 spot in the lineup.

 

"Both Stephen and Augie have the talent and ability to shoot a low round," commented Heil. "The key for each of them is to shoot consistently low rounds.  If we can get a solid three or four scores, it will make a big difference in our team result."

 

Looking to join Jaskolski, Spalding and Ward in the starting lineup are seniors Kyle Lewis (Riverside, Calif./ Riverside Poly), Matt Warren (Copley) and sophomore Chris Nader (Westlake). 

 

Lewis played in seven tournaments and averaged 82.50 per round.  His season-best round of 78 came at the Wittenberg University Fall Invitational. Warren recorded an average of 84.92 over six rounds of golf and shot a season-best 76 at the Muskingum University Spring Invitational.  Nader played in nine tournaments as a freshman and averaged 81.73 strokes per round with a season-best of 73 at Wittenberg.

 

"Kyle, Matt and Chris all have the ability to help our team," said Heil.  "Much like Stephen and Augie, the key will be consistency.  Simply put, we need at least one of them to make the top-five and shoot a low round."

 

Heil also welcomes freshmen Andy Ingram (Vermilion), Adam Sanders (Fairview Park/ Fairview) and Cody Lyon (Wadsworth/ Medina Highland) to the mix.

 

"Our freshmen will battle with the upperclassmen for a spot in the starting five," said Heil.

 

B-W will open its season at the John Carroll University Invitational at Shaker Heights Country Club in Shaker Heights on Sunday and Monday, September 11-12. The OAC Fall Invitational will be hosted by Ohio Northern University at Colonial Golfers Club in Harrod, Ohio and starting on Friday, September 16.

  

FOR MORE B-W Sports Information, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Nick Minerd by phone at 440-826-2780 and e-mail at nminerd@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest B-W 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.