At the Mid-American Match Play event in Dade City, Fla., Ohio got to purge some off-season rust against Eastern Michigan, Toledo and Bowling Green — finishing 1-2 at the end of the three-round competition.
“I thought we got better each round,” coach Bob Cooley said. “It was unfortunate because Toledo got hot in the second round, but the score doesn’t really indicate how we played.”
THE GOOD
The Bobcats’ underclassmen golfers played well, with freshman Ty Herriott finishing two strokes ahead in the first round. Fellow freshman Peyton White, who was named Mid-American Conference player of the week twice during the fall season, came from behind to earn half a point against the top-seeded Brian Churchill-Smith in the first round.
Ohio finished the tournament strong by defeating Bowling Green 4-2 on Tuesday.
“I thought we did pretty well,” White said. “We hit the ball pretty well towards the end and even though we got beat, in a sense, it was a good stepping stone and a good practice event.”
THE BAD
The Bobcats will have to go out of the state again for the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate in South Carolina. With Ohio still attempting to figure out its line-ups and potential for the spring season, it will have a quick turnaround before the Saturday-to-Tuesday event.
“I think for the spring we’re going to come together more,” White said. “Everyone’s just starting to come together and so far we’re figuring out our line-ups.”
THE UGLY
Ohio did not look good against No. 5 Toledo, despite junior Andrew Mlynarski’s play, as he fared 2-1 in the tournament, but the rest of the team encountered trouble against the Rockets.
The Bobcats had difficulty starting meets earlier in the fall season. Ohio didn’t get hot until the third round against Bowling Green.
“Our goal is to get ready for the MAC Championship,” Cooley said. “We want to see different players play and see who’s ready to play and not ready. That’s our goal.”
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