Team Sharber defeats Team Lamb 6-3 to win Polar Bear Cup Challenge title

October 26, 2020

By Tim Glon

ADA — Team Sharber defeated Team Lamb 6-3 in the championship match of the Polar Bear Cup Challenge on Sunday morning at Colonial Golfers Club.

Second-seeded Sharber defeated top-seeded Team Lamb to win the title and the DiBiasio Trophy.

Sharber got victories from junior Andrew Slusher (Covington), junior Karlee Staugler (Saint Henry), freshman Grace Honigford (Mason/Lakota East), sophomore Matt Russo (Medina/Akron Bishop Hoban), junior Mason Roush (Zanesville/Philo) and sophomore Olivia Galigher (Bolivar/Tuscarawas) to post the win.

Honigford finished tournament play undefeated at 7-0-1, one of three players to go unbeaten in the tournament.

Team Hairston sophomore Josh Steyer (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) finished 5-0 and sophomore Torrie Smith (Russiaville, Ind./Western) of Team Ludwig was 4-0-1.

Team Lamb junior Austin White (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) defeated Slusher in a 9-hole battle to finish his tournament with a 7-1-0 mark.

Staugler edged sophomore Meghan Utterdyke (Franklin/Fenwick) 2 & 1 to knock Utterdyke from the ranks of the unbeatens as Utterdyke finished at 5-1-1.

The Ohio Northern men's and women's golf teams divided themselves up into four 10-player teams for the Polar Bear Cup Challenge, a Ryder Cup-style tournament that was contested over eight rounds.

Teams earned points by winning head-to-head, Ryder Cup-style competitions and by succeeding in individual skills challenges each week for the first six weeks.

Team standings seeded the teams for the semifinals and finals the final two weeks, which will feature head-to-head match play competition.

The first six rounds of competition featured three alternate shot competitions between each team: one men's, one women's and one mixed with one point awarded to the front 9, back 9 and total 18-hole winners.

Players not involved in the alternate shot competition had chances to earn team points by making a 5-foot putt, lagging to within 3 feet of the cup on a 40-foot putt, chipping from 15 yards out to within 2 feet of the cup and from getting within 20 feet on a 50-yard approach shot.

Teams are named in honor of past coaches that have made a positive impact on the Ohio Northern golf programs.

Jacque Sharber was one of the first women's golf coaches and transitioned the team into a full-fledged varsity program.

Stacey Hairston led the Polar Bear women's team to the Ohio Athletic Conference title and the NCAA III Tournament in 2007 and is the women's program's all-time winningest coach with a 436-165-3 record in seven seasons.

Helen Ludwig is considered one of the developers and guardians of women's athletics at Ohio Northern University. She was critical in the formation of women's athletic teams before and during the implementation of Title IX. From 1963-84, she served as an assistant athletic director, the academic director of the Department of Physical Education and a head or assistant coach for nearly all of ONU's female athletic teams before she retired from ONU.

Clyde Lamb was the first men's golf coach at Ohio Northern in 1937 and led the Polar Bears to five consecutive Mid-Ohio League championships from 1950-54. He coached football, baseball, golf and tennis and served as athletics director at ONU from 1932-1969.

Finals Results - Match Play

Sharber def. Lamb, 6-3

   Andrew Slusher (Sharber) def. Ethan Smith (Lamb), 4 & 2 (9 Holes)
Austin White (Lamb) def. Andrew Slusher (Sharber), 2 & 1 (9 Holes)
   Karlee Staugler (Sharber) def. Meghan Utterdyke (Lamb), 2 & 1
   Grace Honigford (Sharber) def. Lydia Cranmer (Lamb), 5 & 4
   Matt Russo (Sharber) def. Garrett Allen (Lamb), 6 & 5
   Mason Roush (Sharber) def. Luke Gilliland (Lamb), 6 & 4
   Olivia Galigher (Sharber) def. Shelby Starkey (Lamb), 2 & 1 (9 Holes)
   Shelby Starkey (Lamb) def. Julia Gutchall (Sharber), 3 & 1 (9 Holes)
   Erika Brooks (Lamb) def. Mady Allen, 2 & 1 (9 Holes)