The Ohio State University at Marion
Ohio State Marion golf team wins state
By Wayne Rowe
May 16, 2009, 09:34

The Ohio State Marion Scarlet Wave Men’s Golf team recently took home first place honors in the 2009 Ohio Regional Campus Conference state championship golf tournament, held May 8 at The Pines Golf Club, Orville, Ohio, and May 9 at Belmont Hills Country Club, St. Clairsville, Ohio.

University of Akron Wayne played host for the first round of the tournament, with the Scarlet Wave leading Miami University Hamilton by one stroke. Sophomore Josh Houston led all Ohio State Marion golfers shooting a 74 in day one, trailing the tournament leader by only two strokes.

The second round of the tournament was hosted by Ohio University Eastern. Members of the Scarlet Wave tournament team came through with another round of impressive scores on day 2. Alan Dixon & Joshua Stidham led the way for the team, as they recorded a pair of 78's on the most challenging course of the season. Houston finished 5th overall (76.5 average) out of the 60-player field.

According to Alan Dixon, senior business major and the campus’s first 4-year letterman in golf, he and the team have been anticipating all the pieces coming together and they finally did this year.

"What was important to me with participating on the team this year would be the fact that we had a strong team, so when I am out on the course, even if I am not doing my best, I remember that the team is still out there fighting for a win,” said Dixon. “That gave me inspiration to do the same and just fight out the conditions and the course, and come in with the best score that I could on that day.”

“The other years I played, we did not have a team that was able to compete on a high level like we were this year,” he added, “so the focus was not always there, but I am glad that this year we had the team we did, and can say we never gave up on ourselves, which is why we won three team championships when we had never won one before."

According to Scarlet Wave Coach Mark Sisler, after leading the tournament on day 1, the team knew that day 2 would even be more difficult.

“I told the team before the final round that they each needed to concentrate on 'the moment', one swing at a time and one hole at a time. This championship was going to be decided right down to the last stroke,” said Sisler. “Fortunately for us, we made those strokes on the back nine at Belmont Hills that propelled us to win the state championship by that one stroke."

"As a coach, I am very lucky to be associated with a fine group of gentlemen, who not only take their game of golf seriously, but also excel greatly in the classroom and in life," said Sisler.

"They became great teammates, and through preparation and teamwork, they put the team ahead of themselves,” he said. “They found a way to grind it out with each swing of their club."

Tournament team members from Ohio State Marion who contributed to the win include:
Brenen Morse of Westerville, Ohio; Joshua Stidham of Westerville, Ohio; Alan Dixon of Marion, Ohio; Josh Houston of Marion, Ohio; and Doug Fleischmann of Galloway, Ohio.

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