Wirtz fires career-low 69 in second round to lead Men's Golf at Wittenberg Invitational
By Tim Glon
SPRINGFIELD — Senior Ryan Wirtz fired a career-low 3-under par 69 in the second round to lead the Ohio Northern men's golf team to a third place finish at the 9-team Wittenberg Rosencrans-Maurer Invitational Monday at the Springfield Country Club.
The Polar Bears (6-2 overall) finished with a 36-hole score 310-300—610 as the teams played two rounds on Monday.
Host Wittenberg won the tournament with a 301-289—590, Spalding (Ky.) was second with a 303-298—601 and Denison was fourth with a 307-304—611.
Wirtz finished tied for 8th out of 80 golfers with a 79-69—148 on the par-72 course. His 69 tied for the third-lowest round in ONU history and was just two strokes off the school record 67 set by Andrew Rahrig in 2007.
Senior Colin Burns tied for 14th with a 73-78—151, sophomore Blaine Ricketts tied for 33rd with a 78-79—157 and junior Brandon Lambert tied for 38th with an 85-74—159.
Wittenberg's Alex Andrews won medalist honors with a 72-69—141.
The Polar Bears will return to action next Sunday and Monday with the Ohio Athletic Conference Fall Invitational at Mount Union.
Team Standings
1. Wittenberg 301-289—590, 2. Spalding (Ky.) 303-298—601, 3. Ohio Northern 310-300—610, 4. Denison 307-304—611, 5. Kenyon 310-304—614, 6. Allegheny (Pa.) 309-306—615, 7. DePauw (Ind.) 318-301—619, 8. Capital 342-323—665, 9. Wabash (Ind.) 346-344—690.
Top 5 Individuals
1. Alex Andrews (Witt) 72-69—141, 2. Sam Geise (Witt) 71-71—142, 3. D.J. Vogt (Bellarmine) 73-70—143, t4. Sam Stillwell (Witt) 77-69—146, t4. Alex Bickle (Ken) 76-70—146.
Ohio Northern Individual Results
t8. Ryan Wirtz 79-69—148, t14. Colin Burns 73-78—151, t33. Blaine Ricketts 78-79—157, t36. Brandon Lambert 85-74—159, 48. Rick Deichert 80-84—164.
Other Ohio Northern Individual Results
t14. Tim Monroe 74-77—151, t57. Austin Tebbe 84-84—168, t64. Riku Watanabe 88-83—171, t66. Zach Goodchild 87-86—173, t66. Tyler Davis 87-86—173, 73. Christopher Kolbe 88-92—180, 78. T.J. Hoersten 107-97—294.