Men's Golf moves up to fifth place after 54 holes of 2023 OAC Tournament
By Tim Glon
WEST LAFAYETTE — The Ohio Northern men's golf team moved up three spots into fifth place on the second day of the 2023 Ohio Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday at River Greens Golf Course.
The Polar Bears (39-37 overall) posted a 324-296-298—918 for 54 holes after the second day of the three-day, 72-hole tournament.
Northern struggled to a 324 in the first 18 holes on Friday, but bounced back in a big way with an 8-over par 296 and a 10-over par 298 over the next 36 holes.
Freshmen Anthony Naso (Grosse Ile, Mich.) and Bennet Christy (Plymouth, Ind.) are tied for 17th out of 45 golfers with 13-over par 229s for ONU.
Naso is 1-under par over his last 36 holes after posting a first round 86. Christy followed his first round 81 with 74s in each of his next two rounds.
The duo are just four shots out of All-OAC consideration, as the top 14 finishers and ties will receive All-Conference accolades.
Sophomore Andrew Briars (Maumee/Anthony Wayne) is tied for 25th with an 83-74-76—233, sophomore Adam Trigg-Holdman (Cincinnati/Roger Bacon) is 29th with an 82-75-78—234 and freshmen Joey DeSimone (Munroe Falls/Stow-Munroe Falls) is tied for 31st with a 78-82-78—238.
"We are the youngest team in the event - all first timers with two sophomores and three freshmen," ONU head coach Chad Bucci said. "The last 36 holes is a testament of how good this team really is and they showed a lot of grit climbing up the leaderboard. We just need to play within ourselves to try grab one or two more spots. This is a great group of young men."
Otterbein's Ian Johnston leads the individual standings with a 1-under par 215.
Otterbein leads the team standings with an 874. Capital is second with an 892, Mount Union is third with a 908 and Muskingum is fourth with a 915.
The teams will play the final 18 holes on Sunday.
Team Standings
1. Otterbein 298-287-289—874, 2. Capital 304-295-293—892, 3. Mount Union 309-296-303—908, 4. Muskingum 308-308-299—915, 5. Ohio Northern 324-296-298—918, 6. Baldwin Wallace 304-308-310—922, 7. John Carroll 313-306-308—927, 8. Heidelberg 311-313-313—937, 9. Marietta 328-325-309—962.
Top 14 Individuals (All-OAC)
1. Ian Johnston (Otterbein) 73-71-71—215, t2. Logan Bratsch (Baldwin Wallace) 75-75-79—219, t2. Angelo Donato (Capital) 78-68-73—219, t2. Colin Bibler (Otterbein) 73-73-73—219, t5. Cameron Henry (Muskingum) 77-75-69—221, t5. Sam Lahmon (Otterbein) 76-74-71—221, t5. Nick Weilding (Marietta) 77-70-74—221, t5. Nick Congrove (Muskingum ) 78-73-70—221, t9. Ian Smith (Mount Union) 72-74-76—222, t9. Carter Woodward (Otterbein) 76-69-77—222, t9. Ben Satterthwaite (Capital) 74-76-72—222, 12. Adam Filo (Mount Union) 76-74-73—223, 13. Henry Neumann (Baldwin Wallace) 72-72-80—224, 14. Joshua Ferndon (Heidelberg) 76-73-76—225.
Ohio Northern Individual Results
t17. Anthony Naso 86-73-70—229, t17. Bennet Christy 81-74-74—229, t25. Andrew Briars 83-74-76—233, 29. Adam Trigg-Holdman 82-75-78—235, t31. Joey DeSimone 78-82-78—238.