By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Cincinnati, OH---The No. 8 Express golf team captured two tournament championships in OCCAC play over the last two days to take early control of the conference standings.
On Thursday, Blaze Hogan shot a 3-under 69 to capture first place individually, while the Express placed four golfers in the top five individual finishers. Darren Gessner and Brandon Hoelzer each shot a 2-under 70 to tie Columbus State's Ash Alstadt for second place, while Timothy Dawkins shot a 75 to tie for fifth.
Other scores for the Express on Thursday included Luke Berger (77), Jason Glass (80) and Riley Robinson (81).
Hogan, Gessner and Hoelzer combined to shoot seven under par.
As a team, the Express had a score of 284, which was 13 shots better than second place Columbus State (297). Lakeland (313), Cincinnati State (314) and Lorain County (344) rounded out the team scores.
On Friday, the Express impressed some more with a team score of 292, which was 20 shots better than second place Columbus State (312). Lakeland (324), Cincinnati State (33) and Lorain County (344) rounded out the team scores in day two.
Berger led the way on Friday with a 1-under par 71, while Glass (73), Gessner (74), Hoelzer (74), Dawkins (75), Hogan (77) and Robinson (87) contributed to the successful day.
As a team, the Express shot even par over the past two days. Gessner and Hoelzer's two-day averages of 72 lead the OCCAC, while Hogan's two-day average of 73 is third best. Berger and Columbus State's Alstadt are tied at 74, while Dawkins' 74 is tied for sixth. The 76.5 average for Glass gives the Express six players in the top eight of the OCCAC individual standings.
Notes
In the OCCAC, teams are awarded points based on finish in each conference event starting with a high score of five and a low score of one. Thus, the Express have 10 points, while Columbus State has eight, Lakeland has six, Cincinnati State has four and Lorain County has two.
The event on Thursday was held at Weatherwax Golf Course - Woodside/Meadows, with a par of 72, while the event on Friday was also held at Weatherwax Golf Course - Valley View/Woodside - also a par of 72.
The next action for the Express will be April 21 in the Columbus State Invitational. The event will be held at North Star Golf Course/Bent Tree Golf Club in Columbus, OH.
Since the beginning of fall season, the Express have participated in nine invitationals/tournaments. Of those nine, they have seven first place finishes, one second place finish and one 15th place finish. Their lone non-top two finish came in a tournament where they were the only NJCAA school and were competing against NCAA D-I schools.