by Danny Cathcart
While a majority of the Wittenberg student body was spending their respective holiday breaks at home shivering and shaking through some of the gnarliest winter weather patterns to hit the Midwest in some time, five members of the Wittenberg men’s Golf team skipped town, opting for the temperate climate of Arizona golf courses over the frozen tundra brought on by the polar vortex back in Ohio.
Of the five that made the trek west, four competed in the Saguaro Amateur tournament held at the Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Arizona. The Tigers in attendance at the tournament, which ran from Jan. 2-5, were senior David Wetterich, junior John Chaney, sophomore Sam Geise, and freshman Sam Stilwell.
“It was a good way to get out there, play golf, and see some good competition,” said Wetterich.
The Wittenberg Tigers were able to prove they can hold their own against some of the toughest amateur competition in the country after all those from the Witt team garnered impressive finishes. Chaney was the top Tiger finisher in 21st place, followed by Wetterich in 84th, Stilwell in 89th, and Geise in 100th.
Junior Alex Andrews parted from his teammates and headed to Litchfield Park, Arizona and competed in the Patriot All-America Invitational, a tournament hosted by the Wigwam Golf Resort from Dec. 27-31. The 84 competitors were comprised of All-American golfers of note from all NCAA divisions as well as All-Americans from several other national athletic associations. Andrews did exceptionally, allotting himself a 45th place finish against some of the best collegiate golfers in the country.
“It was an awesome experience,” Andrews said of the event, which benefited the Folds of Honor Foundation, an organization that works to provides scholarships to children and spouses of soldiers that have been killed or disable in the line of duty. “The course was very difficult and the competition was great.”
After a first place ranking in the fall half of the 2013-2014 golf season, those members of the Tiger team viewed the outcome of the winter tournaments as sign of good things to come.
“We have some ambitious goals in the Spring that we would like to achieve,” states Wetterich, “We are going to take it one tournament at a time, but we have our eyes on winning conference. Once we can achieve that and secure our spot in the National Tournament, we want to win it all.”
“One of our goals going into the spring season is to win every tournament, including nationals,” added Andrews, “with hard work and preparation, our goal is a pretty reachable one.”
As the spring season rapidly approaches, fans can rest assured that, despite the recent bad weather, the sun is shining bright on Tiger Town.
