This year the BGSU golf team has an added point of interest.

Although they are not the leaders of the team, a solid chunk of the athletes are freshmen. Andrew Ladwig, John Powers, Matt Schneider and Scott Blackburn have gotten a chance to compete in their first years at the collegiate level.

At this time last year they were still in high school and among the elite golfers in their area.

This year, though, the four are experiencing a new level of competition and are no longer the premier players on their team.

“There’s more competition, the holes are longer, and it gets that much tougher,” Ladwig said.

Ladwig, from East Grand Rapids, Mich., led his high school to a state championship. He knew he wanted to continue his career into college and that was part of his decision to come to BG.

“I wanted to play golf somewhere, but the guys here were the deciding factor,” Ladwig said.

One of those teammates, Schneider, agrees with Ladwig’s assessment of the tougher courses at the college level. They both pointed to the pins being in tougher places on the green, the length of the hole and overall difficulty of the courses.

Schneider, however, should be familiar with tough courses and competition. Schneider came to BG on a hot streak to say the least. He finished his high school career with a third place finish in the Minnesota High School State Tournament. He then followed that up with third place finishes in the Junior PGA tournament and the Minnesota State Amateur. His offseason was highlighted with a championship in the Minnesota State Jr. Boys Championship.

Powers, a Bowling Green native, also comes off a solid summer. He finished second in the Ohio Jr. Championship and won five matches to take the title in the Toledo District Junior match play tournament. Powers has been looking forward to golfing at the college level and is hoping to help the team improve.

“I just wanted a chance to play early and a chance to help Bowling Green get back to the top of the [Mid-American Conference],” he said.

Blackburn comes to BG from Lutheran West High School near Cleveland and hopes to help BG get back to the top after he led his high school team to an appearance in the state tournament.

Like many students, Blackburn says the toughest part is learning to manage time more wisely. Being on the University’s golf team, he has to learn how to devote equal time to school and golf.

The team typically practices from 8 a.m. until about noon and lifts weights twice a week. They then have class in the afternoon, study table and homework in the evening then head to bed before starting the process over.

“It’s really tough to devote time to both school and sports and not let either drop,” Blackburn said.

The coaches have been working very closely with these talented freshmen to help them develop both as students and as golfers.

“This could be the best incoming recruiting class we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said BG coach John Piper.