A year of solid but unspectacular finishes for the Tiger golf team culminated last weekend in a fourth-place finish in the NCAC Championship Tournament at Apple Valley Golf Course near Mt. Vernon. The NCAC field included nine teams, and the Tigers stayed close to the leaders but couldn't quite put things together to overtake nationally ranked Ohio Wesleyan and Allegheny or third-place Denison.

Two Wittenberg players made second-team All-NCAC, in recognition of their top-10 finishes at the championship meet. Freshman Andy Bonar (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) carded a 159, which was good for sixth place, nine shots off the lead. Junior Steve Spittle (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) finished in a six-way tie for ninth place at 161. It was the first All-NCAC honor for either player.

As a team, the Tigers shot a two-day total of 646, 22 shots off the pace set up champion Ohio Wesleyan. Joining Bonar and Spittle were junior Jonathan Orr (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon), who finished with a 162, and junior Jesse Fyffe (Chillicothe, Ohio/Chillicothe) and sophomore Adam Knowlton (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee), who carded matching 168s.

Jesse Fyffe	Steve Spittle

It was yet another middle-of-the-pack finish for the Tiger golf team last week at the Ohio Wesleyan/Strimer Invitational in Delaware, Ohio. Once again, the Tigers were involved in a strong competition filled with some of the best teams in the region and loaded with teams from the NCAC, and once again Wittenberg competed well but couldn't crack the top five, despite finishing the first day in sixth place, just a couple of strokes out of the lead pack.

The Tigers shot a two-day total of 624. Junior Jesse Fyffe (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) topped the team with a 153, which was good for 24th place. Junior Steve Spittle (Dublin, Ohio/Scioto) and  sophomore Adam Knowlton (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) each carded 154 for 29th place and sophomore David Meyer (Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton) rounded things out with a 163.

The nine conference schools that sponsor golf square off in Mount Vernon on Friday and Saturday for the NCAC championship.

It wasn't the best team finish, but playing in another loaded field, the Tiger golf team put together a solid eighth place finish in the Wooster Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

Nate Reed	Kyle Prussing

The finish can be described as solid because the field included 15 quality teams, including national title contenders Ohio Wesleyan and Otterbein. The Tigers shot a two-day total of 629, a 318 on the first day and a 311 on the second. Only 19 strokes separated titlist Otterbein from eighth-place Wittenberg.

Freshman Andy Bonar (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) had his best finish of the season, and the best two-round total for a Tiger golfer in three years as he posted back-to-back 74s for a 148, which was good for a third-place tie, just four strokes off the lead. Junior Jesse Fyffe (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) was next with a 157, junior Jonathan Orr (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) posted a 158, sophomore Adam Knowlton (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) carded a 170 and junior Pat Reist (Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton) rounded things out with a 173.

One more week of practice against a field of the best in the midwest and much of the NCAC at the Ohio Wesleyan Invitational. The 10 conference teams square off in Mount Vernon for the NCAC championship on May 3-4.

Andy Bonar	Jon Orr

Like most of the other Tiger spring sports teams, last week was a wet one for the golfers. They managed to get in one round of the Denison Spring Invitational before watching the rain fall on Sunday and heading home just eight holes into the second round.

It was a decent finish for the Tigers, despite the fact that the final ledger shows that they finished 11th of 18 teams in the loaded field. Freshman Andy Bonar (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) showed the way for the Tigers with a 76, which was good for 19th place. Junior Jesse Fyffe (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) was next with a 79, sophomore Adam Knowlton (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) posted a solid 80 and juniors Steve Spittle (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) and Jonathan Orr (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) rounded things out with matching 81s.

This week the Tigers will get another look at the NCAC competition at an invitational tournament in Wooster. Following next week's Ohio Wesleyan Invitational, the 10 conference teams square off in Mount Vernon for the NCAC championship on May 3-4.

Steve Spittle

The Wittenberg golf team put together a solid performance in the Kenyon Cup over the weekend, finishing sixth in a strong 15-team field that included all nine NCAC teams that sponsor golf. In that battle within the war, the Tigers were fourth, just one stroke back of Denison with a score of 631. Nationally ranked conference foes Ohio Wesleyan and Allegheny finished one-two in the competition.Individually, freshman Andy Bonar (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) showed the way for the Tigers with a two-day total of 155. Junior Jonathan Orr (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) was next with a 158, junior Steve Spittle (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) finished with a 159, junior Pat Reist (Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton) tabulated a 160 and sophomore Adam Knowlton (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) rounded things out with a 161.

The tournament was held at the Apple Valley Golf Course in Mt. Vernon, site of the NCAC championship tournament May 3-4. That finish came on the heels of solid but unspectacular finish at the Muskingum Invitational the previous week in which the Tigers finished ninth in a 12-team field. They were paced by Bonar and fellow freshman Mike Aughenbaugh (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora), who carded a 156 and 157 respectively.

Coming off a solid first season under the direction of Head Coach J.J. Searls, the Wittenberg golf team is hoping for even better things to come. Buoying those hopes is the return of senior Kurt Bitter (Dublin, Ohio/Scioto), the 2000 NCAC medalist who didn't play a year ago. Bitter will lead a veteran cast that also includes junior Steve Spittle (Columbus, Ohio/Dublin Coffman), who topped the team with a 79.2 stroke average in 2001. Five players finished last season with stroke average of 83.5 or better, and all return to the fold again. Junior Pat Reist (Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton) had the team's second-best stroke average of 81.3, while junior Jonathan Orr (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) was next with an 82.5. Rounding out the returning players, junior Jesse Fyffe (Chillicothe,

Orr

The Tigers will finally get some regular practice in next week over Spring Break and then will have some time back in Ohio to adjust before playing in the Muskingum Invitational on March 29. Wittenberg finished fourth in the NCAC a year ago.

Next:
Muskingum Invitational, 3/29-30