Ben Smith
Following an outstanding fall campaign, the 2009-10 Wittenberg men's golf team has its sights set on the first North Coast Atlantic Conference (NCAC) title in nearly 20 years thanks to wins in each of the first two conference championship series events.
The Tigers burst out of the gates in September 2009 with a big win at Denison to open the season and simply kept getting better, winning four times in six fall tournaments. As a team, the Tigers finished with an average of 299.8 per 18-hole team round, an improvement of 2.3 strokes from the previous fall season.
That improvement was thanks in large part to a pair of newcomers, freshman Craig Osterbrock (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) and junior Bleu George (Lancaster, Ohio/Fisher Catholic), who teamed with a trio of sophomores to comprise the starting lineup much of the fall season.
Osterbrock is off to an astonishing start to his collegiate golf career after posting a 74.3 stroke average over 12 rounds during the fall season. George, a transfer from Tiffin University, recorded a fall season stroke average of 74.4, starting with a stunning performance at the Denison Fall Classic, where he set school records for a single round (66) and two rounds (136) en route to medalist honors.
Sophomore returning letterwinners Ricky Boerner (Hilliard, Ohio/Watterson), Jordan Millice (Cable, Ohio/Triad) and Ben Smith (Bend, Ohio/Elder) were also solid in the fall, building upon their fine inaugural collegiate campaigns in 2008-09. Boerner averaged 75.3 during the fall season, including a two-round total of 146 at the first NCAC Championship tournament hosted by Ohio Wesleyan.
Millice is right behind him after averaging 75.8 during fall action. Consistency was key for Millice as all of his two-round scores from the fall fell between 150 and 153. Smith rounded things out with a 77.6 scoring average during the fall, including three two-round totals of 153.
Senior Stephen Nevius (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) and freshmen Bradley Shepherd (Dublin, Ohio/Watterson) and Jonny Price (Dublin, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) also finished the fall season with averages under 80, providing much-needed depth.
Written By: Tom Fisher '11
Photo By: Erin Pence