DAYTON, Ohio – Following the Flyer Invitational on Oct. 17-18, the Dayton Flyer men's golf fall season officially came to a close. The Flyers had a successful season, finishing with a team scoring average of 286.14 (71.53 per person), one tournament championship (Northern Kentucky Fall Collegiate Classic) and four other events with top-six finishes.
Coming into the season, the team had high expectations after finishing third the 2016 Atlantic 10 Conference Championship. The Flyers are living up to those expectations and are in great position for a good run at the Conference Championship this coming April.
The Flyers started off the season with the Joe Feaganes Marshall Invitational in Huntington, West Virginia. The team finished third out of 16 teams with a score of 285-279-279=843 ( 3). Senior
Caleb Wolters led the Flyers and tied for 12th
with an even-par 210 after three rounds of play. Senior
Nick Paxson and junior
Phillip Johnson followed, tying for 15th with a score of 212. Junior
Brendan Keating finished in 22nd with a final score of 214, and junior
Tripp French finished in 30th with 216.
UD then finished sixth out of 18 teams at the EKU Intercollegiate in Richmond, Kentucky, with a score of 287-287-282=856 ( 16). Paxson led the Flyers, tying for 12th overall with a one-over-par score of 211 after three rounds. Johnson had the low score in the third round for the Flyers. He shot a one-under 69 and had three birdies in the round. Wolters scored a 71 in all three rounds and finished with a 213 in 18th place.
The team then had an extremely successful first-place finish at the NKU Fall Collegiate Classic at the end of September in Batavia, Ohio. The Flyers finished 12 strokes ahead of the second-place team, Oakland, and Johnson tied for first place overall with an even-par score of 213. Paxson finished in fourth with a 214 and Keating finished with a 217. Johnson and Paxson were both named to the NKU Fall Classic All-Tournament Team.
The Flyers went on to the Akron Firestone Invitational, where they finished fourth. Paxson was Dayton's top finisher, and he tied for fifth place with a score of 211, five under par. They then finished out the fall season with the Dayton Flyer Invitational, where they placed second out of 18 teams. Paxson was the team's top finisher again, placing third overall with a one-over-par score of 143.
Dayton will return to the links at the end of February with A-10 Match Play in Westin, Florida. The week following, the Flyers will play at the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate in Hilton Head. In March, they will participate in the Pinehurst Intercollegiate and the Mission Inn Spring Spectacular. The Flyers will round out the season in April with the Irish Creek Intercollegiate at the beginning of the month, the Ball State Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational and then the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship.
