The BG men’s golf team will begin the home stretch of their fall season today in Dayton when they tee it up in the Flyer Invitational hosted by the University of Dayton.
After a sixth place finish at the Bearcat Invitational, the Falcons were hoping to get a solid week of practice under their belts before heading down to Dayton. What they got instead, were three days of rain-soaked conditions that kept the team off the course until Saturday.
‘Mother Nature was kind of working against us all week,’ said coach Garry Winger. ‘We did not get out nearly as much as I wanted. We finally were able to practice in BG on Saturday, and we played a practice round in Dayton on Sunday.’
The lack of practice time will make the task of solving historic NCR Country Club even more difficult. NCR is one of the most prestigious golf courses in the state of Ohio. It has played host to tournaments such as the 2005 U.S. Senior Open.
This week’s tournament will be conducted on NCR’s south course, which plays to a par of 71 and measures 6,824 yards in length. Many of the fairways and greens are framed by thick, dense rough, which spells trouble for those who are not spot-on ball strikers.
‘NCR is an absolutely beautiful place to play golf,’ Winger said. ‘It is definitely the most difficult course we have played so far this year. To be successful here you just have to be very precise and hit a bunch of fairways and greens.’
There are a couple Falcons, however, who have some idea of what to expect this week.
John Powers and Matt Schneider each competed at NCR as freshmen in the spring of 2007. Schneider finished 27th, while Powers captured his first collegiate title with rounds of 76-79-71.
‘It’s very exciting for John to be able to come back to a course that he has previously won on; that’s something that doesn’t happen very often,’ Winger said.
Some notables from the 18-team field include Ball State, Ohio State and Toledo.
The Rockets, Southern Illinois, and Malone University are the only teams in the field the Falcons have yet to face this year.
‘Toledo, SIU, and Malone are all very strong teams,’ Winger said. ‘As a whole, the field is very solid. It should be an exciting week.’
The 36-hole action will begin this morning with a 10 a.m. shotgun start, with the final 18 to begin at the same time tomorrow.’