BEREA, OHIO -- The 2012-2013 Baldwin Wallace University men's golf team will rely on five returning veterans in its quest for its first-ever Ohio Athletic Conference Championship.
The Yellow Jackets open their season today at the Pat Flowers Invitational hosted by John Carroll University at the Shaker Heights Country Club. The collegiate golf season is split equally between a fall and spring season and the 2013 OAC Championship Tournament occurs in the spring.
"Our goal as a team is to compete to win the OAC title," said fourth-year Head Coach Tom Heil. "We have a talented group of upperclassmen with very good leadership. We look forward to having the chance to compete for a title.
"The keys to our season is the 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 days team total.
"Our 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 leadership while teams that underachieve generally have poor leadership."
Heil returns six student-athletes on his roster, but will have to fill two of the top spots in his lineup due to the graduation of All-OAC golfer Ricky Jaskolski '12 and Matt Warren '12.
"We lost Ricky (Jaskolski) and Matt (Warren) who both had a solid careers. They both were leaders and role models for our younger golfers. 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 during a particular week will be the guys that make the starting lineup.
"We return 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 fourth season at the helm of the Yellow Jacket program, Heil has led BW to a overall record of 91-83 and a fourth and a sixth-place finishes during the OAC Tournament. Overall, BW had six top-five finishes, including three of the last four tournaments of the season.
Expected to lead this year's squad will be senior Stephen Spalding (Stow/ Walsh Jesuit), who posted a team-best stroke average of 77.79 during the spring season and shot a season-best round of 71 during the second round at the OAC Championships. He earned All-OAC honors by placing fourth individually at the OAC tourney. Earlier in the spring, Spalding was an OAC Men's Golfer-of- the-Week when he captured medalist honors at the Ted Barclay Invitational hosted by Denison University He was second on the team during the fall with a 76.00 stroke average.
"Stephen 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 Spalding as the top returners are junior Augie Ward (Medina/Walsh Jesuit) and sophomore Adam Sanders (Fairview Park/ Fairview). Ward had a strong season in 2011-12 and finished fourth on the team in stroke average at 81.93. He shot a season-best 75 at the Muskingum University Invitational. Sanders posted an 82.43 stroke average in the spring, including a season-best round of 77 at Denison.
"Both Augie and Adam 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 be part pf the starting lineup are junior Chris Nader (Westlake), sophomore Cody Lyon (Wadsworth/Medina Highland) and sophomore Andy Ingram (Vermilion). Nader played in three tournaments and averaged 82.00 per round. His season-best round of 74 came at Muskingum. Lyon recorded an average of 83.67 over five rounds and shot a season-best 78 at Muskingum. Ingram played in four tournaments as a freshman and averaged 90.29 strokes with a season-best of 82 at Muskingum.
"Chris, Cody and Andy all have the ability to help our team," said Heil. "Much like Augie and Adam, 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 Sam Bradley (Cheswick, Pa./ Fox Chapel), Connor Duplin (North Canton/St. Thomas Aquinas) and Dillon Haynes (Fairborn) to the roster this fall.
"Our freshmen will battle with the upperclassmen for a spot in the starting five," said Heil. "We look forward to watching them learn, grow and mature during the next four years."
Following play at the JCU tourney, BW will compete at the OAC Invitational (Sept. 16-17), Defiance College Tournament (Sept. 22), University of Mount Union Invitational (Sept. 30-Oct. 1) and the Rosecrans-Maurer Invitational hosted by Wittenberg University (Oct. 6-7).
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. or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bBWyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/
