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2003-04 Season Outlook The Cedarville University golf team has new roster and is hoping to be more competitive in the upcoming season, especially in the challenging American Mideast Conference. Four of the seven golfers are newcomers to the program and they have the talent to make a different right away. "I am expecting better things from this year's team," remarked third-year head coach Ryan Bowen. "Last year, we never seemed to play well together as a team and we definitely did not play to our potential. The main challenge this year is to replace our top two players, who graduated, and improve our record. Craig Bennington was our No. 1 player the last two seasons and No. 2 Tom Simon was a two-time NAIA All-America Scholar-Athlete. In order to do this, our returning players need to become more consistent and we have some newcomers that are going to help immediately." Jonathan Brust is the lone senior on the roster and is in his third season with the Yellow Jackets. He averaged 85.4 strokes per 18 holes as a junior with a low round of 81.
Ben Foreman, another third-year player, shows up as the only junior. He rated third on last year's squad with a 82.3 average. He broke 80 five times and twice matched his career-low of 75 at the Central State Invitational and Urbana Invitational. The other returning player is big sophomore Aaron McDivitt, who is one of the tallest golfers to ever play for the Yellow Jackets at 6-feet 6-inches. He averaged 85.3 as a rookie and tossed in some low numbers on occasion. He was the medalist at the Central State Invitational with a 74 and fired a 76 in the first round of the AMC/NAIA Region IX Tournament. The top newcomer is transfer Adam Schlappi, who comes back to his hometown as a freshman academically after sitting out as a red shirt last year at Columbus State University in Georgia. Arguably the best golfer to ever come out of Cedarville High School, Schlappi could easily step right into CU's No. 1 spot and contend for medalist honors in any tournament he plays.
Travis Roach is a freshman who averaged 40 strokes per nine holes at Elkhart Baptist Christian High School. He also has the talent to move right into the top five. The other two golfers are sophomores Jeff Hinson and Travis Matthiesen. They both attended Cedarville University last year, but are playing their first season on the squad. The Jackets will play a few unofficial events in the fall to get tuned up for the NCCAA National Tournament. That will be played on October 13-14 in Panama City, FL. Cedarville continues to train on two of the most beautiful layouts in the Miami Valley - Country Club of the North and Beavercreek Golf Club. The 23rd Annual Cedarville Invitational will be played over two days at those two courses on April 19-20. The Jackets will also play in five other spring tournaments before the 54-hole AMC/NAIA Region IX Tournament on April 29-30 at the Apple Valley Golf Club in Howard, Ohio. | |||||||||||||||
