Forty-five golfers and nine teams will vie for honors at the 2005 North Coast Athletic Conference Men’s Golf Championship this weekend.
Wabash College is serving as host of the annual event for the first time. The Little Giants - along with Allegheny, Denison, Hiram, Kenyon, Oberlin, Ohio Wesleyan, Wittenberg, and Wooster – all hope to take home the 2005 title.
Ohio Wesleyan is the three-time defending champion. The Battling Bishops won last year’s title by 14 strokes over Denison University. Allegheny senior Darren Eades is back after finishing second in last year’s individual competition to medalist and NCAC Player of the Year Chad Poling from OWU. Poling finished with a 147, shooting 76 the first day and an even par 71 on day two. Eades was one stroke back in the final tally with a 148 after finishing with twin 74’s. Wittenberg’s Andy Bonar, Wooster’s Andy Van Horn, and OWU’s Justin Schroeder should also be in contention again this year for the individual title after finishing tied for third last year with a 151.
Wabash had its best finish since joining the NCAC in the 2004 tournament. The Little Giants fired a two-day total of 658 to take fifth in the final team standings, narrowly edging Wooster by a stroke. Aaron Selby (Crawfordsville, IN/Southmont) fired a 73 on the second day at Dornoch Golf Course to finish with a 168, tying teammate Elliot Vice (Ladoga, IN/Southmont) for 27th place overall. The top-five golfers in the individual standings earn First Team All-NCAC honors, while the next five are named to the Second Team All-Conference squad.
This year’s tournament will take place at Attica’s Harrison Hills Golf Course and Country Club. Tournament action began Thursday with practice rounds before the golfers started serious play at 9:30 a.m. Friday morning. The championship concludes Saturday with the first tee time slated for 9:30 a.m. Admission to the event is free of charge.
This will be the third NCAC event hosted by Wabash. The 2001 NCAC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships were held at North Montgomery High School, and the 2004 NCAC Relays took place last year in the Knowling Fieldhouse on the Wabash campus.
Photos (Top to bottom) - Elliot Vice talks to Wabash Athletics Hall of Famer and Assistant Golf Coach Bill Locker '69.
Junior Aaron Selby drains a put during a practice round.
Starter Steve Hoffman '85 with Kenyon's Jesse Winterer and Oberlin's Saul Flores before the start of the tournament.
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