March 17, 2008

Malone College Men’s Golf Team Opens 2008 Season In San Diego

The Malone College men’s golf team, led by veteran head coach Ken Hyland, is gearing up for another outstanding spring campaign after a highly successful 2007 fall campaign, having opened its ’08 spring campaign with some intrasquad matches in San Diego, California during the team’s annual spring break trip.

In the fall ’07 season, Malone competed in five events, posting two victories (Malone Fall Classic, Phipps Memorial) and two runner-up finishes (Tiffin Invitational, Eastern Kentucky Invitational) while finishing sixth at the NCCAA National Championships.

Malone has a current NAIA national ranking of 15th and hopes to post the kind of season that led the team to yet another NAIA national tournament berth and eventual 10th-place national finish in 2007.  Although the team has some outstanding newcomers who have helped Malone to a solid recent fall campaign, the task may be a bit more daunting this year, though, as a total of just five athletes, two of which competed at the ’07 national tourney, return from last year’s team.

Senior Darren Phipps ( Lake H.S. ) and sophomore Ben Smith (Carrollton H.S.) were both members of the Pioneers’ fivesome that competed at the NAIA national tournament last year.  Smith posted the second-best score for Malone at the event with a 304 (47th) while Phipps was close behind at 309 (64th).


Phipps led the team this fall with an impressive 73.0 average and a first-place overall finish at the Malone Fall Invitational while Smith was close behind at 74.82 with tie for first at the Phipps Memorial Tournament.

 

Other returnees from last year include senior Matt Strayer (Riverside H.S.) and sophomores Michael Strayer (Riverside H.S.) and Mark Zimmerman (GlenOak H.S.).  While Matt Strayer did not compete in the fall due to studying in Washington D.C. this fall, his brother Michael posted a 77.73 average while Zimmerman notched an 81.0 average competing in two matches.

Gone from last year’s roster are Scotty Jones (an ’06 NAIA All-American), Jordan Grubb and Grant Gates, each of whom represented Malone at last year’s NAIA national tournament.  Joining this year’s unit, though, is one of the best recruiting classes for Hyland in recent years as six outstanding freshmen join the squad.

Justin Lower (Northwest H.S.) led this incoming group with a 74.36 average over the fall campaign, including a tie for first-place with Smith and Quinn Parker (Canton Central Catholic H.S.), who averaged 76.25 in the fall, in the Phipps Memorial event.  In addition, Lower finished an impressive third at the NCCAA National Championships with rounds of 75 and 70.


Ryan Gaughan ( Lake H.S. ), Kyle Sine (Shawnee H.S.), Zach Keller (Wynford H.S.) and Eric Shephard (Dixie H.S.) also join this year’s squad.  Gaughan posted a solid 77.0 average this fall in two matches, Sine tallied a 79.22 average, Keller was at 81.50 and Shepard came in at 86.00 for the fall campaign.

The team will officially open the 2008 spring season by competing in the University of the Cumberlands (KY) Invitational March 27-28.  Other events in which the Pioneers will compete include the Cincinnati , Mt. Vernon Nazarene and Walsh Invitationals along with the NAIA Classic and Malone’s Invitational April 18-19.
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