BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University men's golf team and fourth-year Head Coach Wayne Schneider will look to an experienced roster to lead the team to the top of the Ohio Athletic Conference in 2017-18.
Schneider welcomes back seven letterwinners and three of his top five golfers that finished fifth at the 2017 OAC Championships.
Sophomore Jimmy Clark (North Olmsted), junior Hunter Miller (Frankfort/Adena) and sophomore Ben Ladaika (Erie, Pa./Erie Cathedral Prep) are the top three returners from last year's squad. Clark was third on the team with an average of 78.26 strokes per round and shot a team-best 76 during the final round of the OAC Championships. Miller had an average of 79.47 strokes per round and shot a career-best 72 at the 2016 Mount Union Fall Invitational while Ladaika averaged 81.43 with a career low of 76 also at the Mount Union Invitational.
Tommy Glenn is the lone senior on the team this year and returns for his second season overall. He shot a career-best 88 at the Webber International (Fla.) Invitational and averaged 94.58 for the season.
In addition, BW returns juniors Brad Blaine (Brooklyn), Jack Kyle (Bay Village/Bay), Adam Morris (Grafton/Midview) and Brayton Thornburg (Columbus, Ind./Columbus North). Blaine averaged 82.5 strokes per round, Kyle had an 84.64 average, Morris finished the year with an 88.60 average and Thornburg averaged 95.20 strokes at the end of the year.
Five new faces in sophomore Josh Groves (Wadsworth) and freshmen Jared Budner (Macedonia/Nordonia), Chris Corrigan (Cleveland/Fairview), Blake Glista (Beloit/West Branch) and Drake Tobias (Macedonia/Nordonia) will all join the Yellow Jacket squad on the greens this fall.
The collegiate golf schedule is split into a fall and a spring season. BW opens the fall portion of its 2017-18 schedule on Saturday and Sunday, September 2-3, when it travels to Lawrence, Ohio, to compete in the Gatorade Collegiate Classic hosted by the College of Wooster at the Zoar Village Golf Course. The Yellow Jackets will host the OAC Fall Invitational at the Pine Hills Golf Club in Hinckley on Sunday and Monday September 17-18.
