TicketsSept. 17, 2006
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SETTING THE SCENE: The 2006-07 season kicks off for the University of Cincinnati men's golf team on Monday, Sept. 18 as the Bearcats compete in the John Piper Intercollegiate, hosted by Bowling Green State University. The Bearcats return seven letterwinners from a team that made a dramatic rise to a tie for fifth in last season's BIG EAST Championship. UC will try to ride that momentum to the Stone Ridge Golf Course in Bowling Green, Ohio for its first event of the new year.
ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT: The 2006 edition of the John Piper Intercollegiate will bring together 14 squads from across the Midwest. The 54-hole, two-day event will be held at the Stone Ridge Golf Course in Bowling Green, Ohio and will begin at 8 a.m. each day of competition. The defending champion and host Falcons will try to defend their title against a field comprised of the Bearcats, Campbell, Cleveland State, Detroit, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Illinois, IPFW, Loyola (Ill.), Oakland, Ohio, St. Francis, Wright State and Youngstown State.
THE LINE-UP: Cincinnati's season-opening line-up features a blend of experience and youth, headed by the Bearcats' top two players from last season, seniors Geoff Newman and Joe Young. The duo ranked 1-2 on the squad in average last year at 75.0 and 75.8, respectively, while each also posted the first tournament win of their careers. Joining Newman and Young at BGSU will be junior Alex Wenzel and sophomores Albert Fernandez and Paul Marshall. Along with Newman, Marshall was instrumental in the Bearcats' last round climb to a tie for fifth in last spring's BIG EAST Championship, as he shot a final round 69 to establish a career best.
NEW LEADERSHIP: The Bearcats will begin this season with a change at the top as Doug Martin has replaced Sonny Rinala as assistant coach in charge of the men's program. Martin will add a great deal of experience to the team as he played on the PGA Tour from 1991-99 and was very accomplished as an amateur. In 1989, he was ranked as the top amateur player in the country and was also a three-time All-American at the University of Oklahoma. Professionally, Martin scored two tour victories and lost a five-hole playoff to Vijah Singh at the 1995 Buick Classic at Westchester. Currently, Martin is an instructor in the Cincinnati-area and is manager and part owner of The Golf Ranch in Burlington, Ky.