Coach Bob Cooley is in the middle of his 28th year and is hungrier than ever for a Mid-American Conference Championship.
Bob Cooley has coached at Ohio for 28 years and has witnessed countless Mid-American Conference Championships.
No golfer on this year's team has witnessed one, however, as the last came in 2000.
The Bobcats, led by Peyton White, Grant Engel and Ty Herriott, hope to change that this spring.
Ohio resumes play Feb. 8 during MAC Match Play at Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club in Dade City, Florida.
Match play is set up differently than stroke play, which is the norm in most golf tournaments.
In match play, a player is awarded a point if he bests his opponent on each hole.
Match play has been held at the Lake Jovita course for the past five years.
Some MAC teams will not be attending. Xavier and Notre Dame will be.
“Its kind of fun because you get some good competition,” Cooley said. “It’s more of a tournament to see where you're at, but of course you still want to win.”
Ohio enters the second half of its schedule after a strong fall season, including two top-10 finishes through four tournaments.
During their last tournament of the fall, the Florida Golf Coast University Classic, the Bobcats fell apart on the second day after a strong first day of play.
That was due to stamina, along with the difficulty of being versatile on different courses, which can be a challenge at the college level. Most Southern courses are on Bermuda grass, but in the Northeast and Midwest there is mostly bent grass. Ohio plays a lot of golf down south, but most of its practicing occurs on the bent grass of the Midwest.
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The team has been practicing together since the start of Spring Semester, making sure it gets the eight hours of practice a week allowed by the NCAA, with lifting sessions and driving practices in Walter Fieldhouse.
“We set goals at the beginning of the year and obviously we want to see them happen,” White said. “As a team, though, I think we have a Free Willy attitude, which is a good thing in golf. If you play with that open minded mentality, a lot of doors can open up for you.”
White and company want a MAC Championship, but not as much as Cooley.
The MAC Match Play will be a good measuring stick to see where the Bobcats stand.
@Pete_Nakos96
pn997515@ohio.edu
