HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. – Head coach
Gip Hoagland and the Dayton Flyers are hoping to prove the preseason prognosticators wrong.
Despite finishing in fourth at last year’s Atlantic 10 Men’s Golf Championship and returning everybody on the roster, UD was picked to finish in fifth in the 2010-11 preseason poll.
The preseason prediction has certainly provided an extra incentive for the Flyers to prove they belong among the top-tier teams in the conference.
“To me, it’s good motivation for us without a doubt,” Hoagland said. I’m taking basically the same team down from last year. We played with two freshmen and had no seniors. What I am excited about is we have improved both mentally and physically from a season ago.”
Dayton zips down for three days to the Mission Inn Resort located in Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla. The tournament will begin Friday, April 29 and conclude on Sunday, May 1.
Joining the Flyers in the quest for the 2011 A-10 title are Charlotte, Fordham, George Washington, La Salle, Rhode Island, Richmond, Saint Joseph’s, St. Bonaventure, Temple and Xavier.
The Flyers will send a lineup of Chris Woeste, Michael Oberschmidt, Brenten Blakeman, Sean Keating and Jeff Hodapp. All but Blakeman played in last year’s A-10 tournament.
“I think for us to win the tournament, we need all five guys to play up to their potential,” said Hoagland.
Woeste and Keating are two of six UD golfers in the program's history to place in the Top 10 at the A-10 Championship. At the 2008 tournament Woeste tied for eighth and last year Keating finished in fourth.
Other Top 10 finishers at the Atlantic 10 Tournament included Rob Chappell’s first place finish in 2008, Matt Pagnotto placing in fourth in 2000, Tim Skufca tying for seventh in 2005 and Adam Myers earning a 10th place finish in 2004.
This season Woeste has been Dayton’s top golfer. Woeste, a two-time A-10 Player of the Week, leads the team with a 75.2 stroke average.
Meanwhile, Blakeman continues his magical sophomore campaign. He has shot in the 70s in 23 of 24 rounds this season and ranks second on the Flyers with a 75.4 stroke average.
Another Flyer who has played well of late is Oberschmidt. At the 2010 A-10 Championship, Oberschmidt finished in a tie for 11th overall among individuals after finishing the tournament with scores of 74, 76 and 74.
The Flyers have some momentum heading into the conference championship. In its last event, Dayton finished in seventh at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate, but fared well competing against nationally-ranked programs like Illinois, Iowa, Kent State and Ohio State.
“We are coming into this championship playing with a lot of confidence,” said Hoagland. “We played well against a very tough field.”
In the latest Golfstat rankings, Dayton is rated 198th in the NCAA. Charlotte is the top-ranked team in the conference at 59th.
Home of the 1998 and 2000 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship, Mission Inn Resort has been ranked among the “top 10 of Florida’s favorite golf courses” by Florida Golf News; received the “Four-Star Award” by Golf Digest; and was recognized as one of the nation’s “top 100 golf courses” by Links Magazine.
For complete coverage of the 2011 Atlantic 10 Men’s Golf Championship, including live scoring, log on to www.atlantic10.org.
