April 28, 2006
Contact: Alan Ashby
2006 Horizon League Championship
May 1-2 at Plum Creek Golf Club
Par 72, 7,002 Yards
Carmel, Ind.
Teeing Off: Cleveland State heads into the Horizon League Championship on Monday and Tuesday (May 1-2) with the goal of winning the school's first league title since 1998. The Vikings have never appeared in the NCAA Championship due to the fact that the league did not have an automatic bid in 1998.
To Dye For: The seven teams competing at the Horizon League Championship will be challenged by the Pete Dye-designed Plum Creek Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. Opened in 1997, the par 72, 7,002 yard layout features water on nearly every hole. This marks the first time the course has hosted the league championship.
Not So Fast...: Before the Vikings travel to Indiana, they are heading down I-77 for the FirstEnergy Intercollegiate hosted by Akron. The 14-team field will tackle the par 72, 7,125 yard North Course at Firestone Country Club. The tournament rounds out a demanding 11-event regular season and will help prepare CSU for the league championship.
CSU To Put Spotless Mark On The Line: Cleveland State enters the Horizon League Championship having defeated every league school it has faced this season. The Vikings are a perfect 14-0 after squaring off against Wright State four times, Detroit and Youngstown State on three occasions, Butler twice and Loyola and UW-Green Bay once each.
Peaking At The Right Time: The Vikings appear to be playing their best golf of the year at just the right time, posting top four finishes in each of their last three events. CSU was fourth at the Belmont Intercollegiate (April 3-4) and second at the Norm Bullock Classic (April 9-10), before capping off the run by claiming the title at the Dayton Spring Invitational (April 23-24). The victory was the first for the program since winning the Eastern Illinois Ironhorse Intercollegiate on Oct. 14-15, 2002.
Honorary Member: It was no surprise that senior Steve Weir finished just a shot off the pace at the Dayton Spring Invitational -- the last time he was at Shaker Run Golf Club he also had a positive experience (to say the least). The Brunswick, Ohio native was last at the track in Lebanon, Ohio when he advanced as the 24th seed to the match play portion of the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship in the summer of 2005.
Defending Champ: Sophomore Doug Barber will always have fond memories of Royal American Golf Club in Galena, Ohio. Last year, he became the first Viking to earn medalist honors at the Horizon League Championship, shooting an even-par 216 to claim the wire-to-wire victory by three strokes. Unfortunately, his heroics were not enough to propel CSU to the team title, as the Vikings finished eight shots behind Detroit.
Dynamic Duo: Junior Mike Rutgers and senior Steve Weir lead the team with scoring averages of 75.0 and 75.1, respectively. The marks stand fourth and fifth both in the league this season and in CSU annals. Rutgers has a pair of rounds in the 60s this year, while Weir has a trio of sub-70 scores, including a school-record 63 in the second round of the Belmont Intercollegiate on April 3.
But Consistency Gets The Job Done: While Rutgers and Weir may lead the Vikings statistically, it's the consistency of the remainder of the line-up that has the team on pace to set the school season scoring mark. Currently, CSU is averaging a 300.2 through 25 rounds, nearly two shots better than the previous best which was established by the 2002-03 squad (301.9).
Playing Hosts: Cleveland State doesn't just want to host the 2006 NCAA Central Regional, the Vikings want to be one of the 27 participating teams via the automatic bid that accompanies winning the Horizon League Championship. Regardless of who's headed to Chardon, Ohio on May 18-20, Sand Ridge Golf Club will be a stern test, as the 7,173-yard course will play to a par 71 just as it did at the CSU Invitational on Sept. 11-13.
