Maxwell Moldovan competes at the Cal Poly Collegiate in California. Credit: Ohio State Athletics
Ohio State men’s golf fell short of its goal to defend its Cal Poly Collegiate championship title at the Preserve Golf Club in Carmel, California, Oct. 30 and 31 by finishing sixth out of 14 teams.
The Buckeyes won last year with a final round of even-par 288 and an individual victor, senior Adam Wallin. This year, the Buckeyes led the course for the first round and a half but ended with a card of 284-282-292 with a 6-under-par finish.
“We just weren’t quite as sharp as we wanted to be,” head coach Jay Moseley said. “The difference between Monday and Tuesday was just a lack of executing our game plan.”
The Buckeyes led during the first day of play at 14-under par, one shot below competitor UCLA. The Buckeyes gradually lost this lead throughout the second day of play.
“Winning that event was a really great moment for our team last year. This year, we were in a great position to do that. We were leading going into the final day and really didn’t capitalize on a lot of scoring opportunities,” Moseley said. “We went from leading the field to kind of middle of the pack in par-5 scoring just in one day, which was a pretty significant drop-off.”
Although the Buckeyes placed sixth, the team plans on learning from the tournament, graduate Patrick Schmucking said.
“You look at what worked out, what didn’t work out,” Schmucking. “You look at your stats from every shot category, and then you try to get better.”
The Buckeyes had a month break between their last tournament, the Hampton Invitational, and the Cal Poly Collegiate.
This break may have impacted the Buckeyes’ placement at the Cal Poly, Moseley said.
“It was a little longer of a break between events than we are kind of accustomed to seeing,” Moseley said. “So, I don’t think guys were quite in the same game mindset of being in good rhythm and good form as they are accustomed to playing competitive events.”
The Buckeyes have no regrets regarding preparation, Schmucking said.
“I think we did everything in our power,” Schmucking said. “Sometimes it works out perfectly and you perform better than other teams, and then sometimes you maybe don’t perform as ideally as you imagined under circumstances or difference of preparation.”
The five men competing for Ohio State were seniors Maxwell Moldovan and Adam Wallin and fifth-years Neal Shipley, Jackson Chandler and Schmucking. Redshirt freshman Tyler Sabo played as an individual.
Moldovan carded rounds of 69-68-75, tied for 15th place and finished 4-under par.
Wallin, who won as an individual at the Cal Poly Collegiate last year, carded rounds of 72-70-71 to finish tied for 21st at 3-under par.
Shipley carded rounds of 68-71-76, tying him for 28thplace with a 1-under-par finish.
Chandler finished with 38 pars, the third-most on the course. He tied for 53rd with a finish at 6-over par with carded rounds of 76-73-72.
Schmucking carded rounds of 75-73-74 and tied Sabo for 57th place. Both players finished 6-over par.
The Cal Poly Collegiate closes out the Buckeyes’ fall season. They head back to California for their first spring 2024 tournament on Jan. 29 to 31 for the Southwestern Invitational.
