Patel breaks school 72-hole record, Christy notches a double-eagle as Men's Golf finishes fifth on final day of OAC Championships

Patel breaks school 72-hole record, Christy notches a double-eagle as Men's Golf finishes fifth on final day of OAC Championships
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April 28, 2024

WEST LAFAYETTE — Freshman Aashir Patel (Schaumburg, Ill./Conant) broke the school's 72-hole scoring record with a 3-over par 67-76-72-76—291 at the 2024 Ohio athletic Conference Championships Friday-Sunday at River Greens Golf Course.

Sophomore Bennett Christy (Plymouth, Ind.) recorded a rare double-eagle on the 494-yard par-5 8th hole on the Pines section of the course. He holed out from 208 yards using a 5-iron.

Both men earned All-Conference honors for the Polar Bears.

The Basics

  • The teams played the final 18 holes on Sunday.
  • Ohio Northern finished fifth of 9 teams with a 305-307-299-298—1209.
  • Otterbein won the team title with a 294-290-289-298—1171, John Carroll was second with a 290-299-287-296—1172, Capital was third with a 302-300-298-299—1199 and Mount Union was fourth with a 298-300-305-305—1208.
  • ONU Season Record: 47-34-3.
  • Venue: River Greens G.C. - West Lafayette, Ohio.

ONU Individuals

  • Patel finished third out of 45 golfers with his 3-over par 67-76-72-76—291 to earn All-Conference honors.
  • Christy tied for eighth with a 76-73-76-70—295.
  • Sophomore Domenic Pilla (Highland Heights/Saint Ignatius) finished 28th with an 81-80-74-77—312.
  • Junior Andrew Briars (Maumee/Anthony Wayne) tied for 29th with an 83-79-77-75—314.
  • Sophomore Joey DeSimone (Munroe Falls/Stow-Munroe Falls) tied for 40th with an 81-79-83-79—322.

Notables

  • Patel's 72-hole total of 291 is three shots better than the 294 set by Rick Deichert in 2016.
  • He also broke the school's 54-hole total with a 215, which is three shots better than the previous record of 218 set by Ben Kretz in 2009, Zach Goodchild in 2016 and Tyler Davis in 2017.
  • On Friday, Patel tied the school's 18-hole record with a 5-under par 67 in the first round. He is the third ONU men's golfer to shoot a 67, following Andrew Rahrig (4-under par) in 2007 and Zach Goodchild (3-under par) in 2018.
  • Patel is the first golfer in ONU history to finish a round in 5-under par.
  • Patel nearly broke the school single-season scoring record, falling a slim .03 of a stroke behind Zach Goodchild.
  • Goodchild averaged 74.39 strokes for 18 rounds in 2016-17 and Patel averaged 74.42 strokes for 19 rounds this season.
  • Christy's 295 is the third-lowest 72-hole total in school history.
  • The top 14 finishers and ties after 72 holes receive All-Conference accolades.
  • Ohio Northern's team total of 1209 is the second-lowest score in school history
  • The players played 27 holes on Friday and Saturday and finished with 18 holes on Sunday.
  • The OAC Championships winning team received the league's automatic bid to the NCAA III Championships May 14-17 at Boulder City, Nev.
  • ONU head coach Chad Bucci is 364-355-15 in his 11th season at the helm of the men's program, a winning percentage of .507.

Up Next

  • Season Complete.