2011 PAC Golf Preview
BETHANY BISON
GROVE CITY WOLVERINES
SAINT VINCENT BEARCATS
THIEL TOMCATS
THOMAS MORE SAINTS
WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON
PRESIDENTS
WAYNESBURG YELLOW
JACKETS
WESTMINSTER TITANS
After a winning season in 2010-11, the
Westminster College men's golf team will continue to focus on becoming a
contender for the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) championship as it
enters the 2011-12 season.
The Titans posted a 36-33 record in 11 events (16 rounds) last year including
one event win, two second-place finishes, and a third place finish while placing
in the upper half of five invitationals. The Titans placed fifth out of eight
teams at the PAC championships with a four-round total of 1289 played during the
fall and spring semesters.
"We are excited about the upcoming season," said head coach Gene
Nicholson, who enters his 12th year as head coach. "We have five new
freshmen that will be added to an experienced corps of seven upperclassmen."
Five of the seven returners lettered last year as the Titans lost just two
lettermen to graduation.
Westminster's top two golfers, according to season averages, did not finish in
the top 20 of the PAC leaderboard last year, but the Titans placed two players
on the all-PAC second team with top-eight finishes.
Both of those players are returning in junior Andrew Edwards
and sophomore David Paladino. They tied for eighth in two
spring rounds of the PAC championships as they both shot 75 in the first round
and 81 in the second for totals of 156. Edwards averaged 81.9 for the season
while Paladino logged an 82.8 average.
Though the Titans lost Ryan Spear and his 79.8 average to
graduation, the team's second-best golfer from last year is back. Senior
David Mlinarich is a three-year letterman who averaged 81.2 for
16 rebounds in 2010-11 including team lows in seven events. He was the medalist
at Grove City on May 2 with a 72.
Senior Nate Silvis and sophomore Ryan Avril
are also returning lettermen. Silvis, a three-year letterman, averaged 84 last
year including a team-low 78 at the Edward Jones Shootout.
Still, Westminster will need firepower if it will make a run at winning its
first PAC title since winning the league for three straight years from 2003-05
and finishing no higher than third since 2007.
"For us to challenge for the conference title we will need more consistency in
the breadth of the lineup," Nicholson said.
In the
last three seasons the Westminster College women's golf team has had at least
one player finish in the top three and another in the top 10 at the Presidents'
Athletic Conference (PAC) Championships. That will likely continue in 2011-12 as
11th-year head coach Debi Roud
welcomes back her best two golfers from last year.
Senior Pam Bonneau
and junior
Becca Schuster
return after placing third and 10th, respectively, at the PAC
Championships. Bonneau, the first player in school history to lead the team in
scoring average for three straight years, logged a 93.75 stroke average in
2010-11 and she became just the second player in team history to earn first-team
all-PAC honors three times.
"We are looking forward to having experienced golfers like Pam and Becca
returning," Roud said. "We have a promising team that should be competitive in
the PAC."
The Titans placed third in the PAC last year by shooting 1,378 in
three-and-a-half rounds played in the fall and spring to determine the
championship. The Titans posted a 7-38 record in eight tournaments (12 ½ rounds)
during the year.
For a third straight season, Bonneau finished third on the PAC leaderboard with
a 175 (87-88) during the two spring rounds of the PAC Championships.
"Pam is very focused," Roud said. "I know I can rely on her scores. She's the
glue that holds this team together."
Schuster earned second-team all-PAC laurels after placing 10th with a 192
(96-97).
Bonneau and Schuster make up five of the six returning letter-winners from last
year. The other letter-winners are sophomores
Jenna Huston, Jessika Otto
and Rachel
Sherman. Sherman shot a 90 at Grove City in
the fall last year.
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