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Men's Golf Completes Another Record-Breaking
Year
24 school records fall; Erb, Summers and Green named as All
Americans
Season in Review
The Stormy Petrel golf team continued to soar to new heights and for
the third year in a row has broken over 20 school records in a
single season. This year the golf team won four tournaments,
finished second three times, third once, and fourth twice in eleven
tournament starts. In the fall, the Petrels tied Methodist College
for 1st at The Cardinal Country Club in Greensboro, NC and won at
Emory's Fall Invitational in a sudden death playoff on the first
extra hole. Spring victories were recorded at Pine Needles in
Southern Pines, NC where Oglethorpe tied Berry College for first and
at the Conference Championship in late April. At last count 24 team
and individual school records had been eclipsed during the memorable
2002-03 season. The new school scoring record of 293.8 bested the
previous season's mark of 299.74 by six strokes. The team set a new
par 71 course scoring mark with an impressive even par round of 284
at the Pine Needles Golf Club at Southern Pines, NC. One month later
a new par 70 course team scoring record was set at Camp Lejeune with
an 11 under par 269 on the Scarlet Course at Camp Lejeune. The golf
team finished #2 in the nation in the final Golfstat poll in June,
was ranked #3 by the Golf Coaches Association (GCAA) poll in April
and finished sixth at the NCAA National Tournament in mid-May. In
each of Oglethorpe's four previous team trips to the NCAA Nationals
the team has improved on their finish from 16th in 1998, to 13th in
2001, 9th in 2002 and up three more spots this year. The four
victories this year push the total to 13 tournament wins in the last
five years. This season in Division III head to head competition the
record was 224 wins and 2 losses. Versus NCAA Division II teams the
Stormy Petrels were an impressive 28 and 0. The record against NAIA
teams was 8-1-1 losing and tying once to the eventual NAIA national
runnerup Berry College. Oglethorpe won the Georgia Division III Team
of the Year for the third year in a row with a record crushing 291.9
scoring average versus in state schools.
4th Straight SCAC Conference Championship
In Terre Haute, Indiana, in late April, the Stormy Petrels
fired a closing round 289, for a two day total of 589, outdistancing
second place Rhodes College by 25 strokes on the difficult Hulman
Links Golf Course. It marked the fourth consecutive SCAC
championship and fifth in six seasons for the Petrels. Junior Trent
Erb broke the 39 year old conference scoring record of 142 set back
in 1964 by closing with a 3 under par 69 giving him a two day total
of 141. Erb's 72-69-141 earned him SCAC Player of the Year honors
and First Team All SCAC honors. Oglethorpe took the first four spots
individually with Chris Summers, 75-73-148 finishing second, Robert
Miller, 77-72-149 finishing third, and Corey Garner, 75-75-150
finishing fourth. All four players were named 1st Team All SCAC and
freshman Joe Green was named All SCAC Honorable Mention. Coaches Jim
Owen and Robert Fink were named SCAC Coaching staff of the year. The
fifth time the coaching staff has been honored since 1998. Visit
SCAC for complete coverage,
day one, and day two results. Past SCAC champions and records can be
found on the SCAC website.
Another NCAA Appearance
The Petrels record breaking year was highlighted by earning the
#2 seed in the NCAA National Tournament field. It was the highest
seed the team has earned in their previous four trips. A cold, rainy
and windblown start in Ohio during the first two rounds found the
Petrels in sixteenth place at the halfway point of the event. In the
third round and final round the Stormy Petrels posted the day's
second lowest rounds moving up five spots on the leaderboard each
day. On day three a four over par 288 moved the squad from 16th
place to 11th and in the final round a three over par round of 287,
bested only by National Champion Averett University's 285, moved the
Petrels up five more spots to their sixth place finish. Visit
NCAA for more info on the National
Tournament.
Three All Americans and Miller Closes Fast But Misses All
American By One Stroke
One of the most impressive aspects of the 2003 season was the
play of junior Trent Erb. Erb was rewarded for his outstanding
season by being named to the prestigious Pre-Tournament All-American
team at the Golf Coaches Association of America banquet at this
year's NCAA championship. Joining him as a 2003 All American is
senior Chris Summers, who earned second team honors with his 12th
place finish at the NCAA's. Summers also earned honorable mention
honors in 2001-02. Freshman Joe Green finished 19th at the NCAA
tournament earning him Honorable Mention All American status and
giving Oglethorpe a record three All Americans for 2003. The Petrels
just missed having a fourth All-American as Robert Miller finished
with a final round three under par 68 moving up 25 spots to finish
in 25th place missing All- American by one stroke. Miller birdied
his last hole to move Oglethorpe into a tie for sixth place as a
team and gave himself an excellent chance to earn his way on to the
All American squad. Visit the
Golf Coaches Association of
America website for complete NCAA awards.
Two Senior Superlatives
The Robert Miller/Chris Summers era at Oglethorpe may have
ended last May in Delaware, Ohio but it ended in grand style for the
duo. Playing in the last two groups the seniors anchored the team
over the last 36 holes. Playing in their final collegiate rounds,
both finished their great careers with memorable performances. The
week began for the two All Conference performers on campus on the
Academic Quad on Saturday morning at graduation ceremonies with
President Large handing them their diplomas and two and a half hours
later they were boarding a flight for Columbus, Ohio. Twenty four
hours later they were playing together in their final practice
round. When they teed it up on Monday morning just minutes apart
they were making their third straight NCAA National Tournament
appearance together. Miller's final round 68 tied his personal best
round and was his career best NCAA round and it helped edge
Oglethorpe past several schools on the leaderboard late in the day.
Summers third round 70 and final round 74 helped the Petrels jump
from 16th place to 6th place. The senior tandem won an unprecedented
four consecutive SCAC Conference championships to go with their
three straight trips to the NCAA. Summers and Miller were both three
time All SCAC award winners. Summers was the 2002 Player of the Year
and a two time 1st team All SCAC honoree and Miller was a 1st team
All SCAC
performer in both 2000 and 2003. Visit
SCAC-Online for SCAC
records, tournament history and all conference lists.
Joe Green Earns Honors as the 2003 GCAA/Softspikes National
Freshman of the Year
Green was honored at the GCAA banquet at the NCAA Tournament as one
of six
finalists from around the country for this prestigious award. His
stellar play
at the NCAA Tournament, finishing 19th overall, with rounds of
76-77-70-73-296 earned him Honorable Mention All-American honors and
helped seal the award
for him. Green from Jacksonville, Florida played extremely well all
season
long and put himself in position to earn one of the most prestigious
awards in
the history of the golf program. Please see www.collegiategolf.com
for the
full story.
Erb and Summers Named to the all South Region Team for the
Second Consecutive Year
Trent Erb and Chris Summers were voted to the All South Region Team
by
coaches comprising the South Region Committee. It was the second
year in a row
Oglethorpe placed two players on this prestigious 12 member team.
Both Summers
and Erb earned a berth on last year's team as well. Their selections
this year
were the sixth and seventh All Region Selections for Stormy Petrel
golfers.
Erb and Summers join two-time selection Robert Fink (2000 and 2001)
and
Tolliver Williams in 1998.
View all
region selections from all six
regions.
Summers 12th Place NCAA Finish Best Since Tolliver Williams
in 1998
Chris Summers in 12th place at the conclusion of the 2003 NCAA
National
Tournament was the best finish by a Stormy Petrel since Tolliver
Williams finished
9th at Jekyll Island in 1998. Williams carded rounds of 73-72-73-73
to total
291 and holds the school record for the lowest NCAA tournament
four-day total.
Williams also earned second team All-American honors for his finish.
Summers finished 19th in Lincoln, Nebraska in 2002 and 38th in St.
Louis in 2001as a
sophomore.
Erb Earns 2003 Academic All American Award
Junior Trent Erb was named to the NCAA Academic All American Team at
the GCAA
banquet. Erb joins former Petrel golfers Robert Fink (2001 and
2002),
Jonathan Spurgeon (2001) as the fourth player in school history
named to the team. To
be considered players must be juniors or seniors and play in 75% of
their
teams matches and have solid golf credentials.
View the
complete list.
Erb One Of Three Honored as National Amateur of the Month
Birmingham, Alabama.- Less than a week after earning conference
Golfer of the
Year honors and breaking the 39-year old conference record with a
two day
score of 141 at the 2003 SCAC Men's Golf Championships, Oglethorpe
University
junior Trent Erb was named as one of two honorable mention honorees
for National
Amateur of the Month for April by the Southern Golf Association.
University of
Arizona senior Ricky Barnes was named National Amateur of the Month
following
his sensational play at The Masters in Augusta, GA. University of
Florida
freshman Brett Stegmaier was also named honorable mention for the
month of April,
along with Erb. The Southern Golf Association stages the
100-year-old
Southern Amateur. This year's Southern Amateur is being played at
The Homestead in
Hot Springs, Virginia.
More information on the Southern Golf
Association
and the Southern Amateur
Erb Qualifies for... Then Maks the Cut at the Southern
Amateur at the Homestead
Rising senior Trent Erb qualified in June for the 100th Southern
Amateur Golf
Tournament in Hot Springs,VA at the legendary Homestead Golf Club.
Erb made
the ten hour trip to the mountains of Virginia pay dividends as he
fired
rounds of 69 and 68 to not only make the cut but stand in the top
five for the
weekend play. Trent was paired in the second to last group off when
play began on
Saturday morning. He followed his fantastic first and second round
play with
solid play on the weekend with rounds of 76 and 75 to finish 28th.
View complete
story on the SGA golf website.
Oglethorpe Makes Mark on National Statistics in 2003
Golfstat and the NCAA keep track of 17 team statistical categories
for
Division III schools and the Stormy Petrels were flying near the top
of all of the
categories. Remarkably the team led the nation in eight of the 17
statistical
comparisons including final round scoring average, par 4 scoring
average, most
pars per round, fewest bogeys per round, fairways hit (for the third
consecutive year), greens hit in regulation, total short game, and
set a school record
leading the nation in birdies made with 302. The squad finished
second
nationally in five more categories including average score, score
compared to par,
putts on greens in regulation and both par 3 and par 5 scoring
averages.
For
further information please visit GolfStat and view
statistics.
Garner Leads the Nation in Fairways Hit
Sophomore Corey Garner hit 78.5 percent of his fairways this season
leading
the nation in that category for Division III. Teammate Robert Miller
at .757
finished second in the nation for the second consecutive year after
leading the
nation three years ago as a sophomore. The pair helped lead
Oglethorpe to
their third consecutive fairways hit certificate from Golfstat for
leading
Division III. Garner and Miller both earned further recognition for
their driving
accuracy as Garner finished 17th in all Divisions including I, II,
III and NAIA
teams and Miller finished 48th.
For
further information please visit GolfStat and view
statistics.
Golfstat Cup Runner-Up
Oglethorpe's Trent Erb finished the season ranked as the 138th
player in the
overall Golfstat Cup adjusted scoring average standings. It marked
the first
time in the school's history that a Stormy Petrel had been ranked in
the list
of the top 250 overall players in college golf. Erb trailed only
Wisconsin Eau
Claire senior Ryan Quinn ranked #81 in the final Division III
standings. A
total of seven Division III players finished the season on the list
of the top
250 college players in the country. Quinn and Erb alternated all
spring in the
top two positions for the Division III Golfstat Cup race. Quinn
finished with
an adjusted scoring average of 72.36 and Erb was just behind him at
72.75.
Release dates were every Monday through the spring season. The
Adjusted Scoring
Average uses factors such as par and course conditions. Previous
overall
winners include Stanford's Tiger Woods in 1995-96, and both Matt
Kuchar in 1997-98
and Bryce Molder in 2000-01 of Georgia Tech. The overall winner this
year was
Oklahoma State's Hunter Mahan at 70.62. Andrew McArthur of Pfeiffer
University led Division II at 70.95 and Berry College's Zane
Goldthorpe led the NAIA
Golfstat Cup at 71.80.
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