Oakland City, IN - With the departure of two senior leaders, including the second
NCCAA All-American in school history in
Luke Taylor, along with team captain
Steven Lawson, as well as long time head coach
Mikel Breeden after his eighth season, there were many questions entering the 2019 fall golf season for the Mighty Oaks.
With just one freshman addition, as well as three senior athletes from other sports, the Oaks needed to find consistency and get contributions from players outside of tested veterans Nick
Virden (Sr., Gibson Southern HS) and
Trevor Duvall (Jr.,
Madisonville-North Hopkins HS).
David Hose, who has served as the OCU women's golf head coach for the past ten seasons, agreed to help out with the men's program. With few numbers of eligible players on the roster, Tyler
Toopes from the men's basketball team, as well as
Devan Franz and Jake
Bedwell from the baseball team, all seniors, agreed to join the team.
Toopes, who will have one year of eligibility remaining for another season, will finish his degree following next season.
The season began at the Indiana University-East invitational, held at Liberty Country Club, in Liberty, Indiana, on Friday, August 30.
Virden led the way for the Oaks, posting an 81, followed closely by Noah
Onyett (Fr., Pike Central HS) at 82, and Duvall, who shot 83.
Bedwell was the fourth score for the Oaks, shooting a 106, while Franz came in at 108. The Oaks finished in fourth place out of five teams with a team score of 352.
Next, the Oaks traveled to the Kentucky Christian University Fall Invitational, held at Hidden Cove Golf Club, in Olive Hill, Kentucky, September 7-8. After an opening round 327, good for eighth place out of ten teams, OCU shaved 10 shots in round two, moving up one spot in the rankings.
Onyett finished in a tie for sixth place individually, carding rounds of 74 and 77. Duvall recovered from an opening round 85 to shoot an even par round of 72, finishing in a tie for
16th, followed by
Virden, who shot 78 and 81, and finished in a tie for
18th.
Toopes, making his collegiate golf debut, scored both days, shooting rounds of 88 and 90, and finished in
46th place.
In their only dual match of the fall season, the Mighty Oaks traveled to
Hulman Links Golf Club, in Terre Haute, Indiana, to compete against St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, losing 301-339.
Virden was the low score for OCU, with an 81, followed closely by
Onyett and Duvall, who each shot 82.
Toopes came in at 94,
followe by Franz, who carded a 98.
The
NCCAA Mid-East Regional Tournament, hosted by
Campbellsville University at Oak Ridge Country Club, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, presented the opportunity for the team or an individual to earn a berth in the
NCCAA National Championship. After an opening round 317, anchored by
Virden's 73 and
Onyett's 74, OCU found themselves in the middle of the field, standing in third place of the five competing teams. Round two saw the Oaks improve, but not enough to move up in the standings, firing a 313.
Virden shot a season best 72, finishing one over par for the two day event, missing the individual qualification by just two shots.
Onyett joined
Virden on the All-Region team, carding a second round 76, while Duvall shot rounds of 78 and 82.
Toopes improved on his opening round 93 by taking nine shots off his second round score, posting an 83.
The Wabash College Golf Classic, held at the
Crawfordsville Country Club, in
Crawfordsville, Indiana, was the final event for OCU in the fall. The Mighty Oaks shot a season best 297 in their first round, counting four scores in the 70s for the first and only time during the fall season, and found themselves in third place in the nine-team event. A second round 317 saw OCU slip two positions on the
leaderboard, finishing in fifth place.
Onyett led the way for the Oaks, carding rounds of 71 and 77 on the par 70 course, good for an eighth place finish overall. Duvall finished with rounds of 73 and 78, followed by
Virden, who shot 77 and 78.
Toopes fired a career best 76 in the opening round, followed by an 84 in his final round of the fall.
Onyett led the way for OCU in scoring on the season, with an average of 76.63, with one top five finish and three top tens.
Virden followed closely behind, with an average of 77.5, with two top five placements. Duvall averaged 79.13, finishing with one top five individually, while
Toopes posted an 86.71 average, with one top ten.
