The fall season only featured four tournaments, but all four of those tournaments served a big purpose in determining how a team will fare in the long run that is the spring season.
For Ohio, this fall season showed that when all hands are on deck, the team can contend for some hardware.
After an 11th place finish in the Joe Feaganes Marshall Invitational, the Bobcats nearly broke through for a tournament victory the following week, finishing in second place at the EKU Intercollegiate Tournament.
It was just the second tournament of the year, but the 2016 Bobcats club already placed a noteworthy accolade under their belt by carding an overall team score of 842 (+2) for the tournament, which was the best three-round total in program history.
Ohio finished the fall season with a ninth and sixth place finish, respectively, but ultimately couldn't pull it all together to reach their top goal in the 2016 season — a tournament win.
Senior co-captain Peyton White was one of the team's top golfers this fall and finished in the top 10 twice in four tournaments.
"It was good, and we played really well," White said. "I think we can really get moving and have some pretty cool finishes (in the spring)."
White has always been one of the Bobcat's top golfers through his four years at Ohio, but now he's got some competition inside the club.
Senior co-captain Ty Herriott burst onto the scene this fall, and following a career-best performance in the season's first match, Herriott nearly won it all in the EKU Intercollegiate. Herriott finished in fourth place and was just four strokes away from the top spot.
The duo is shaping up to be one of the strongest in the MAC Conference, and while coach Bob Cooley is happy about how the two have performed so far, he knows that there can be more to show for in their efforts.
"Peyton and Ty played very well. They were our leaders, our captains, and they did a good job," Cooley said. "Both of them had some chances to win tournaments, and they kind of let it slip away a little bit. We've been talking about that and trying to play under pressure a bit better and finish a little stronger."
While White and Herriott have been the team's two most consistent performers, the fate of the Bobcats rest just as equally on the remaining players.
"We had some good play, but we found out that we have some weaknesses, too." Cooley said. "When our fourth and fifth men don't play very well, we don't play very well. That's kind of where we're at right now."
While the Bobcats were able to find moderate success this fall, they did so without a key player in the lineup. Junior Grant Engel battled a back injury and was absent from play all season, and the team is hopeful that he'll be ready for the spring. Engel has served as another consistent performer in his two years at Ohio, averaging a solid score of 75.72 strokes per 18 holes.
"With him, we could be a very good team," Cooley said.
The Bobcats may not have been the most consistent of teams this fall, but they've been able to build a decent amount of momentum that they'll hope to take into the spring season and win the program's first tournament since 2008.
It's going to take a full team effort to do that, however, but White knows that this team is capable of making big strides in 2017.
"This is one of the tightest teams we've had," White said. "We have a lot more in store for the spring."
