2008 Woodie Awards
Golfers gear up for Piper Intercollegiate tournament
By: Bill Bordewick
Issue date: 9/5/08 Section: Sports
The BG men's golf team will play a litany of tournaments scheduled for all over the country and even into Puerto Rico - but they only play one in the Bowling Green.
That tournament, the John Piper Intercollegiate, will be played at Stone Ridge Golf Club on Monday and Tuesday.
To go along with that, BG has seven players from all over the country and Canada - but only one hails from Bowling Green.
That player is junior John Powers and the Falcons hope a little cooking and the expertise of Powers can propel the team to victory in their tournament.
"I would say it's probably an advantage," Powers said of playing on his home course. "Scores at Stone Ridge are generally lower than other courses that we play and tournaments throughout the year - you got to take it kind of low if the weather is nice."
Powers used that home course knowledge last year to shoot his season-best round of 70 at the tournament in 2007.
BG will look for Powers, Matt Schneider and the rest of the elder Falcons to provide the leadership for the newest Falcons - Parker Hewit and Drew Preston.
"They've probably only played the course like three times," Powers said of the two Falcon newcomers. "There's some holes that have water and it can get kind of tricky - we let them know where they got to hit it to make things easier on themselves."
Preston is coming off a tournament in the Rutherford Intercollegiate in which he finished in tie for third place by carding 218 (two over par) for the whole three-day tournament.
For his efforts, he was awarded with the MAC Golfer of the Week.
Preston admitted to being nervous before the first round but quickly shook off the nerves and posted the best BG score of the week.
The Falcons will look for continued good play out of the team but coach Garry Winger is quick to point that every course is different and momentum really does not play a part in the daily grind of a season.
"I don't know if [Tuesday's] performance will have any bearing on [the upcoming tournament]," Winger said after the Rutherford Intercollegiate. "The weather [Tuesday] was perfect and that's why the scores were lower."
Whether it can be attributed to perfect weather or three straight days of playing the same course, the Falcons showed a ten stroke improvement in the third round of the last tournament from 306 each of the first two days to 296 on the final day.
BG will try to continue that play in the John Piper and Powers believes Eastern Kentucky is a team to watch out for.
"Obviously we're looking to win - we haven't beaten Eastern Kentucky since I've been in school," the junior captain said. "If we beat them, we'll probably win the tournament."
Powers also mentioned that two of BG's MAC brethren, Ohio and Ball State, will be there and in his words "they're two teams from the MAC and you always want to beat them."
That tournament, the John Piper Intercollegiate, will be played at Stone Ridge Golf Club on Monday and Tuesday.
To go along with that, BG has seven players from all over the country and Canada - but only one hails from Bowling Green.
That player is junior John Powers and the Falcons hope a little cooking and the expertise of Powers can propel the team to victory in their tournament.
"I would say it's probably an advantage," Powers said of playing on his home course. "Scores at Stone Ridge are generally lower than other courses that we play and tournaments throughout the year - you got to take it kind of low if the weather is nice."
Powers used that home course knowledge last year to shoot his season-best round of 70 at the tournament in 2007.
BG will look for Powers, Matt Schneider and the rest of the elder Falcons to provide the leadership for the newest Falcons - Parker Hewit and Drew Preston.
"They've probably only played the course like three times," Powers said of the two Falcon newcomers. "There's some holes that have water and it can get kind of tricky - we let them know where they got to hit it to make things easier on themselves."
Preston is coming off a tournament in the Rutherford Intercollegiate in which he finished in tie for third place by carding 218 (two over par) for the whole three-day tournament.
For his efforts, he was awarded with the MAC Golfer of the Week.
Preston admitted to being nervous before the first round but quickly shook off the nerves and posted the best BG score of the week.
The Falcons will look for continued good play out of the team but coach Garry Winger is quick to point that every course is different and momentum really does not play a part in the daily grind of a season.
"I don't know if [Tuesday's] performance will have any bearing on [the upcoming tournament]," Winger said after the Rutherford Intercollegiate. "The weather [Tuesday] was perfect and that's why the scores were lower."
Whether it can be attributed to perfect weather or three straight days of playing the same course, the Falcons showed a ten stroke improvement in the third round of the last tournament from 306 each of the first two days to 296 on the final day.
BG will try to continue that play in the John Piper and Powers believes Eastern Kentucky is a team to watch out for.
"Obviously we're looking to win - we haven't beaten Eastern Kentucky since I've been in school," the junior captain said. "If we beat them, we'll probably win the tournament."
Powers also mentioned that two of BG's MAC brethren, Ohio and Ball State, will be there and in his words "they're two teams from the MAC and you always want to beat them."
Be the first to comment on this story