Andy Bonar
The Wittenberg golf team is beginning a new era this
spring as Scott Isphording takes over as the teams head coach. He
inherits a team in transition after back-to-back fourth-place
finishes in the always-tough North Coast Athletic Conference, home
to perennial national powers Allegheny and Ohio Wesleyan, as well
as several other schools, including Wittenberg, that have strong
golf traditions.
Leading the way in 2003 will be
sophomore Andy Bonar (Lancaster,
Ohio/Lancaster), the teams top scorer a year ago who
earned second-team All-NCAC honors for his stellar performance at
the conference meet. Bonars best finish of the 2002 season was
third at the College of Wooster Invitational, an event in which he
shot back-to-back 74s en route to a team season-best two-day total
of 148. He followed that up with a fine sixth-place finish (159) in
the NCAC event at Apple Valley.
The other returning letterwinners are
junior Adam Knowlton (Springfield,
Ohio/Shawnee), who played the most rounds of any
golfer on the team in 2001-02, and senior Jesse
Fyffe (Chillicothe, Ohio/Chillicothe). Knowlton
lettered his first two years as a collegian and ranked among the
teams top five golfers both seasons. Last year, Knowlton posted an
average of 81.33, while Fyffe checked in with an average of 82.11
in five tournaments.
What the team lacks in experience, it makes up for in depth
and potential. Sophomore Mike Aughenbaugh
(Aurora, Ohio/Aurora) played one varsity
tournament last year and will be counted on to carry a much more
significant load in 2003. Also competing for playing time are
freshmen Clinton Anderson (Mechanicsburg,
Ohio/Mechanicsburg), Nathan
Delaney (Toledo, Ohio/St. Johns
Jesuit), Mark Sanders (Hamilton,
Ohio/Badin), Dane Sandridge
(Westfield Center, Ohio/Lodi
Cloverleaf) and Kristopher
Schmelzer (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster).