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Goflers at their best heading into conference championships Release Date:
April 29, 2009
MONMOUTH, Ill. —
The lowest scores of the season couldn’t have come at a
better time for the men’s golf team.
The Fighting Scots enter the Midwest Conference Championships at
Aldeen Golf Course in Rockford, Ill., this weekend with a scoring
average of just over 308 during their last eight rounds, putting
them in position to capture their fourth league title under coach
Dave Ragone and their 11th overall. That average in the
conference tournament would have been enough to defeat eight of
Monmouth’s 10 previous championship teams.
“I definitely like our chances this weekend,” said Ragone. “The
guys are feeling very confident going in, but in my mind, Carroll is
still the frontrunner. They’ve pretty much beaten every conference
team they’ve played. I would count Grinnell and Knox as serious
contenders as well. We’re just going to worry about what we do and
let the chips fall where they may.”
Judging by the scores, most of the chips (and putts) have fallen
Monmouth’s way. The Scots have three of the league’s 15 best
individual rounds heading into the 54-hole weekend. Rodney
Clayton’s 71 at the Millikin Invitational in March is the
conference’s best 18-hole score. Ryan Tapscott’s 73 last
weekend and Ted Starkey’s 75 – four times – are also among the MWC’s
leaders.
Clayton, a sophomore and Monmouth’s only returning all-conference
player, narrowly edged junior transfer Starkey as the scoring leader
of the six-man team. Clayton enters MWC play with a 78.0 stroke
average, just one-tenth ahead of Starkey. Tapscott, a junior, isn’t
far behind with a 78.8 average. Rounding out Ragone’s squad are
junior Ryan Harvey (80.3) and seniors Jake Kilberg
(81.1) and Greg Jones (81.3).
“Our goal with this group is to card four 77s each day and post a
308 or 310 and we’ll be fine,” said Ragone. “The amount of golf
we’ve played, the competition we’ve faced and the toughness of the
courses we’ve experienced have set us up for success at the
conference level. The bottom line is we still have to go out there
and perform.”
Performing well on the par-72 Aldeen course can be a difficult
job. The 536-yard, par 5 first hole challenges players immediately
with a water hazard and two-tiered green. It doesn’t get any easier
on the par 4 second hole, guarded by fairway bunkers and sand along
the edge of the green. Finally seeing a par three on No. 5 won’t
make players breathe any easier, either. The front of the green is
guarded by both a water hazard and a sand bunker. Aiming to the
extreme right side of the green may help golfers avoid the hazards,
but they will be left with an extremely long putt. The finishing
hole on 18 features water the length of the fairway and a brutal
three-tiered green.
“Course experience at Aldeen is very important,” said Ragone.
“All our guys, except Ted, have course experience at Aldeen. It sets
up much like Panther Creek in Springfield which is the course Ted
grew up on, so we should be in good shape. I think he will adapt
quite well to the course.”
The Scots will be paired with Carroll and Illinois College for a
12:52 p.m. tee time on Thursday. Friday, Monmouth gets an early
start with St. Norbert and Lawrence at 9:00 a.m. The team champion
receives the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division III
championships held in Port St. Lucie, Fla., May 10-15.
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