Tigers Cap Fall Season With 16th-Place Finish At Golfweek Invite

Alex Andrews stayed hot at the Golfweek Invitational, going four-under in the final round to pull into a third-place tie in the final standings. Photo by Jason Roberts
Alex Andrews stayed hot at the Golfweek Invitational, going four-under in the final round to pull into a third-place tie in the final standings. Photo by Jason Roberts

DESTIN, Fla. – For the second straight year, the Wittenberg men's golf team capped its fall season with at the annual Golfweek Invitational, which acts as a preview for the NCAA Division III Tournament the following May. Also for the second straight year, the Tigers struggled in that national tourney preview, checking in 16th in the loaded 18-team field during the 2012 competition at Raven Golf Club & Baytowne Golf Club at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort.

All certainly is not lost for the Tigers, however. After finishing 17th of 18 at the event in 2011, Wittenberg bounced back nicely in the spring season and rallied to a seventh-place finish in the 2012 NCAA Division III Championships in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.

All is also not lost for the Tigers heading into a four-month break in the playing schedule because of the play of sophomore Alex Andrews (Kirtland, Ohio/Gilmour Academy), who closed a tremendous fall season with a flourish. Andrews, medalist at the prestigious Gordin Classic and a third-place finish in Wittenberg's Rosencrans Maurer Invitational in the two events leading up to the fall season finale, improved each day at the Golfweek Invitational.

Andrews carded rounds of 75 and 72 the first two days before posting the round of the tournament with a four-under-par 67 on the final day to move into a tie for third place. He finished with a three-round total of 214, along the way posting the second-best single round in program history and the third-best two-round score (138, based on Rounds 2 and 3) in program history.

Next for the Tigers was junior David Wetterich (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) was next for the Tigers, finishing 45th with a three-round score of 227. Junior Ben Hogenkamp (Minster, Ohio/Minster) finished 61st with a 232, followed by senior Craig Osterbrock (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) in 80th with a 241 and sophomore John Chaney (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) in 83rd with a 244.