April 24, 2006
LEBANON, Ohio - Cleveland State pulled away in the final round for an eight-shot victory over St. Bonaventure on Monday at the Dayton Spring Invitational. The win was the first for the Vikings since claiming the Eastern Illinois Ironhorse Intercollegiate on Oct. 14-15, 2002. The 12-team field was competing at the 6,953 yard, par 72 Shaker Run Golf Club.
CSU, which led the Bonnies by just a stroke (602-603) at the completion of 36 holes on Sunday, posted a 303 for the final round to best St. Bonaventure's 310 by seven strokes. The Vikings turned five rounds in the 70s, while none of the other teams could do better than three sub-80 scores.
"We started off a little slow, but really got things going in the middle of the round," CSU head coach Tom Porten said. "This was a true team effort and a validation of a lot of hard work."
Just as he did at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship last July, senior Steve Weir excelled on the demanding track at Shaker Run. The Brunswick, Ohio native finished at plus-seven (223), just a shot behind St. Bonaventure's Josh Anderson who claimed medalist honors at six-over par.
At the Public Links Championship, he advanced to match play as the 24th seed after carding a 144 (+4) in 36 holes of stroke play with the course playing as a par 70.
"We sort of planned this trip because of the positive experience Steve had here last summer," Porten said. "For him to finish second and nearly get in a playoff was great to see."
Freshman Jake Scott (Strongsville, Ohio) was three shots back of Weir at 226, posting his best career finish with a tie for third. Joining the pair in the top 10 were junior Mike Rugers (Kingsville, Ontario) and sophomore Doug Barber (Willoughby, Ohio), who finished tied for sixth and 10th, respectively.
Cleveland State closes out the regular season this weekend at the FirstEnergy Intercollegiate on April 29-30. Akron is hosting the 14-team field at Firestone Country Club.
Team Leaders
1. Cleveland State 293-309-303--905
2. St. Bonaventure 303-300-310--913
3. Longwood 312-296-315--923
Individual Leaders
1. Josh Anderson, St. Bonaventure 73-75-74--222
2. Steve Weir, Cleveland State 75-75-73--223
T3. Jake Scott, Cleveland State 75-75-76--226
T3. Andy Whalen, St. Bonaventure 74-75-77--226
T3. Garrett Gosh, UW-Green Bay 74-70-82--226
Cleveland State Individuals
2. Steve Weir 75-75-73--223
T3. Jake Scott 75-75-76--226
T6. Mike Rutgers 69-83-76--228
T10. Doug Barber 74-81-78--233
T14. Ben Grandy 77-78-79--234
Complete Final Results in PDF Format
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