2008 Woodie Awards
Freshmen shine in golf season opener
Issue date: 3/30/07 Section: Sports
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March 10-11 at the Battle-of-the-Creek Invitational, the season-opening meet for the Southwest Baptist golf team, youth was served. Freshmen Brad Nipper and Justin Sellin carded SBU's top individual scores as they led the Bearcats to a ninth place finish at the Branson Creek Golf Club in Hollister, an 18-hole par-71 course.
Nipper placed eighth overall amongst individual golfers, shooting a 73 in the meet's opening round. In the second and final round, Nipper came through with a 72, finishing in a first place tie with Central Missouri freshman Justin Yoder. In the final standings, Nipper (145) finished in a tie for second with Missouri Western State junior Aaron Lisenbee (145). Individual medalist honors went to Drury freshman Seon Kim who finished with a 143, just two strokes ahead of Nipper and Lisenbee.
In the overall team standings, the 'Cats found themselves in 11th place after the opening round. Nipper (73) and Sellin (78) had SBU's top scores with juniors Clay Brandenburgh and Adam Lotz (82) and sophomore Matt Hefley (85) rounding out the 'Cats starting five. SBU's 315 team score left the 'Cats just one spot out of last place.
Coming back strong the next day, the 'Cats knocked seven strokes off their opening-day score. SBU finished with a 308, the fourth best score in the final round. The 'Cats were led again by Nipper (72) and Sellin (75) with Hefley (80), Brandenburgh (81) and Lotz (91) completing the SBU effort. The strong finish gave the 'Cats (623) a ninth place finish in the 12-team meet that featured four MIAA and 10 NCAA Division II schools. The overall team championship went to host Drury (599) who defeated Arkansas Tech (599) in a sudden death playoff. Other competing schools included Central Missouri (601), Washburn (609), Southwestern Oklahoma State (610), Delta State (614), Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (617), University of Missouri-St. Louis (620), defending MIAA champion Missouri Western (624) and Rockhurst (653).
Competing in the Washburn Invitational, a 10-team MIAA meet held March 26-27 in Topeka, Kan., the 'Cats placed sixth overall. SBU (604) finished just a point behind fifth place Missouri Western (603) with Washburn (573), the host team, taking first. Other MIAA schools in the meet included Central Missouri (590), Missouri Southern State (595), Truman State (611), Fort Hays State (623) and Pittsburg State (649).
Individually, Sellin (148) and Nipper (149) placed 11th and 15th, respectively in the player standings with Brandenburgh (153), junior Garrett Smith (154) and Hefley (167) also competing for SBU.
"We struggled a little bit, but that's to be expected in those first meets," Brandenburgh said. "It takes some time to get back in swing. Our goal is to continue to move up in the MIAA standings and be on top of our game in the conference tournament."
With their showing at Washburn, the 'Cats moved up to fifth in the MIAA standings. Washburn leads the conference with 24 meet points followed by Central Missouri (19), Missouri Western (17), Missouri Southern (16), SBU (10.5), Fort Hays (10), Truman State (7) and Pittsburg State (4.5).
Up next for the golf 'Cats is the Missouri Southern State Invitational. The MIAA meet will be played Monday and Tuesday, April 2-3 at Loma Linda Golf Club in Joplin.
Nipper placed eighth overall amongst individual golfers, shooting a 73 in the meet's opening round. In the second and final round, Nipper came through with a 72, finishing in a first place tie with Central Missouri freshman Justin Yoder. In the final standings, Nipper (145) finished in a tie for second with Missouri Western State junior Aaron Lisenbee (145). Individual medalist honors went to Drury freshman Seon Kim who finished with a 143, just two strokes ahead of Nipper and Lisenbee.
In the overall team standings, the 'Cats found themselves in 11th place after the opening round. Nipper (73) and Sellin (78) had SBU's top scores with juniors Clay Brandenburgh and Adam Lotz (82) and sophomore Matt Hefley (85) rounding out the 'Cats starting five. SBU's 315 team score left the 'Cats just one spot out of last place.
Coming back strong the next day, the 'Cats knocked seven strokes off their opening-day score. SBU finished with a 308, the fourth best score in the final round. The 'Cats were led again by Nipper (72) and Sellin (75) with Hefley (80), Brandenburgh (81) and Lotz (91) completing the SBU effort. The strong finish gave the 'Cats (623) a ninth place finish in the 12-team meet that featured four MIAA and 10 NCAA Division II schools. The overall team championship went to host Drury (599) who defeated Arkansas Tech (599) in a sudden death playoff. Other competing schools included Central Missouri (601), Washburn (609), Southwestern Oklahoma State (610), Delta State (614), Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (617), University of Missouri-St. Louis (620), defending MIAA champion Missouri Western (624) and Rockhurst (653).
Competing in the Washburn Invitational, a 10-team MIAA meet held March 26-27 in Topeka, Kan., the 'Cats placed sixth overall. SBU (604) finished just a point behind fifth place Missouri Western (603) with Washburn (573), the host team, taking first. Other MIAA schools in the meet included Central Missouri (590), Missouri Southern State (595), Truman State (611), Fort Hays State (623) and Pittsburg State (649).
Individually, Sellin (148) and Nipper (149) placed 11th and 15th, respectively in the player standings with Brandenburgh (153), junior Garrett Smith (154) and Hefley (167) also competing for SBU.
"We struggled a little bit, but that's to be expected in those first meets," Brandenburgh said. "It takes some time to get back in swing. Our goal is to continue to move up in the MIAA standings and be on top of our game in the conference tournament."
With their showing at Washburn, the 'Cats moved up to fifth in the MIAA standings. Washburn leads the conference with 24 meet points followed by Central Missouri (19), Missouri Western (17), Missouri Southern (16), SBU (10.5), Fort Hays (10), Truman State (7) and Pittsburg State (4.5).
Up next for the golf 'Cats is the Missouri Southern State Invitational. The MIAA meet will be played Monday and Tuesday, April 2-3 at Loma Linda Golf Club in Joplin.
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