Colin Burns finishes runner-up, leads Men's Golf at 2012 OAC Championships
By Tim Glon
WEST LAFAYETTE -- Ohio Northern sophomore Colin Burns earned All-Conference honors with a runner-up finish at the 2012 Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Golf Tournament Friday-Sunday at River Greens Golf Course.
The teams played 27 holes on Friday, 27 on Saturday and 18 more holes on Sunday.
The Polar Bears ended their season with a 47-29-3 overall record after finishing fourth out of nine teams with a 310-315-299-303--1227.
Burns tied for first place out of 41 golfers with an 11-over par 70-78-75-76--299, but lost to Ben Adams of Otterbein in a playoff for Medalist honors.
For ONU, freshman Andrew Quintrell tied for 15th with a 78-78-85-79--310, senior Phillip Caffee was 22nd with an 82-79-80-73--314, sophomore Ryan Wirtz tied for 23rd with an 80-83-77-75--315, senior Travis Ballinger was 33rd with an 83-80-7289--324.
Otterbein won the team title with a 1213, Mount Union was second with a 1224, Capital was third with a 1226 and John Carroll was fifth with a 1239.
Burns and Adams battled back and fourth for the entire 72 holes of the tournament. Burns led by two strokes after the first round, Adams led by two after the second round and Burns led again by two after 54 holes.
Adams then birdied the first hole of the sudden-death playoff to claim Medalist honors.
The top 10 individual finishers will earn All-Conference honors.
Team Standings
1. Otterbein 302-301-304-306--1213, 2. Mount Union 314-311-295-304--1224, 3. Capital 312-313-299-302--1226, 4. Ohio Northern 310-315-299-303--1227, 5. John Carroll 307-308-306-318--1239, 6. Baldwin-Wallace 317-314-310-312--1253, 7. Muskingum 321309-317-310--1257, 8. Heidelberg 327-321-321-332--1301, 9. Wilmington No Team Score.
Top 10 Individuals
t1*. Ben Adams (Ott) 73-74-78-74--299, t1. Colin Burns (ONU) 70-78-75-76--299, 3. Clay Rice (Cap) 77-76-71-76--300, 4. Stephen Spalding (BW) 81-71-76-73--301, 5. Matt Mosca (Ott) 76-77-74-76--303, t6. Taylor Ford (Ott) 76-74-77-79--306, t6. Greg Elber (JCU) 78-74-75-79--306, t6. Mark Williams (Cap) 82-76-74-74--306, t6. Jon Lieser (MtU) 79-80-73-74--306, t10. Brock Neighbors (Ott) 78-77-75-77--307, t10 Colin Broughton (MtU) 80-77-74-76--307.
Ohio Northern Individuals
t1. Colin Burns 70-78-75-76--299, t15. Andrew Quintrell 78-78-75-79--310, 22. Phillip Caffee 82-79-80-73--314, t23. Ryan Wirtz 80-83-77-75--315, 33. Travis Ballinger 83-80-72-89--324.
