Men's Golf split-squads have record-breaking weekend, win Defiance Fall Invitational and finish second at OAC Fall Preview

The Ohio Northern men's golf team sent split-squads to two tournaments and came away with record-breaking finishes in each Saturday and Sunday. The Polar Bears won the Defiance Fall Invitational by six shots and were second of six at the OAC Fall Invitational.

The Basics

• At Defiance, Ohio Northern finished 1st of 4 teams at 6-over par 295-287—582, breaking the school's 36-hole total by five strokes.
• Governors State (Ill.) and Defiance tied for second with 588s, and Indiana-East was fourth with a 601.
• At the OAC Preview, ONU broke that school record with a 292-287—579 to finish second of 6 teams.
• Otterbein took first place at River Greens with a 285-283--568, Heidelberg was third with a 596 and Marietta was fourth with a 614.
• ONU Season Record: 40-7.
• Venues: Auglaize C.C. - Defiance, Ohio; River Greens G.C. - West Lafayette, Ohio.

OAC Preview Recap

• Junior Aashir Patel (Schaumburg, Ill./Conant) took medalist honors, shooting a school-record 7-under-par 67-70--137.
• Sophomore Ian Briars (Maumee/Anthony Wayne) was T4 of 61 golfers with a 73-70--143.
• Freshman Brett Bagatti (Medina/Akron Hoban), playing for the B-Team, was T10 with a 72-74--146.
• Sophomore Dylan Potts (Dublin/Jerome) took 15th with a 77-72--149.
• Playing on the "B" Team, freshman Zach Butcher (Medina/Highland) placed 3rd with a career-low 71-68--139.

Defiance Recap

• Senior Bennett Christy (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth) won Medalist honors with a career-low 5-under par 68-71—139.
• Senior Austin Hanni-Wells (Findlay/Liberty Benton) was seventh of 47 golfers with a 74-72—146.
• Freshman Tyler Colson (Centerville) tied for 14th with a 77-71—148.
• Senior Wyatt Bowen (Columbus/Dublin Scioto) tied for 17th with a 76-73—149.
• Playing as an individual, freshman Jaxon Woods (DeGraff/Riverside) was fifth with a career-low 71-72—143.

Notables

• Northern broke its 36-hole school record of 586 set two seasons ago at DePauw (Ind.).
• Patel broke his own record of 138, set last week.
• Christy's 139 was his career-low and is the third-lowest 36-hole score in school history.
• He also bettered his previous college-best score of a 71 with two rounds of 70 over the two-day affair.
• The teams played 18 holes on Saturday and 18 more on Sunday.
• ONU head coach Chad Bucci is 467-410-16 in his 13th season at the helm of the men's program, a winning percentage of .532.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will return to action Monday at the Lourdes Invitational.