Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Prepares For Final Tuneup Before NCAAs
May 12, 2000 | Cowboy Golf
May 12, 2000
STILLWATER, Okla. - Oklahoma State plays its final tournament before NCAA competition begins when the third-ranked Cowboys tee off in the Maxwell by Pontiac this weekend. The Cowboys, who had won three straight Maxwell titles before finishing third last year, are coming off an impressive performance at the Big 12 Championship on April 24-25.
Oklahoma State Cowboy Men's Golf
at
The Maxwell by Pontiac
May 13-14, 2000 * Dornick Hills * Ardmore, Okla.
The Cowboys in 1999-2000
Third-ranked Oklahoma State is enjoying one of its best spring seasons in
nearly a decade. The Cowboys have not finished out of the top four in any of
their spring events heading into the conference championship, the first time
that has happened since the national championship season of 1991. OSU has
won two team titles this season, at the Taylor Made Red River Classic in
October and at last month's Big 12 Championship, the Cowboys also tied for
first but lost in a playoff at the Las Vegas Intercollegiate. Charles
Howell, who won the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate in October and the
conference tournament, and Edward Loar, who won the Compaq U.S. Collegiate
Championship last month, gave OSU three individual medalists this season.
50-plus years of history
Last season, Oklahoma State advanced to the NCAA Tournament for its
unprecedented 53rd consecutive time and finished second at the national
championship, marking the 22nd time OSU has finished in the final top two.
The Cowboys have won eight national titles and have finished fifth or higher
44 times. Thirty-eight OSU golfers have won conference titles, and the
Cowboys have produced six NCAA medalists and 124 All-Americans. In the 27
years under head coach Mike Holder, OSU has entered 377 tournaments and won
157 titles for a 41.6 winning percentage. In addition, the Cowboys have
posted 87 runner-up finishes, meaning that OSU has finished first or second
64.7 percent of the time.
Head Coach Mike Holder
In the last 27 years, Mike Holder's name has become synonymous with success
in college golf. He has coached 94 All-Americans, including 33 first-team
choices, and his teams have won 24 league titles and seven national
championships. Holder ranked second only to Kansas basketball coach Phog
Allen in Big Eight titles regardless of sport, and he is one of 20 coaches
all-time in all sports who have directed national-championship teams in
three different decades.
The 2000 Big 12 Championship
Charles Howell put together one of the best individual performances in
school history as Oklahoma State reclaimed the Big 12 Championship on April
24 and 25. Howell carded a 10-under-par 200, the third-best 54-hole score in
school history and a tournament record by nine strokes, to take medalist
honors. Teammate Edward Loar was second at even par, and OSU, with a
tourney-record score of 851, won the tournament by 12 strokes over
second-place Kansas. The Cowboys' league victory was their third in the four
years of the Big 12 Conference.
Noting the Cowboys
OSU has produced at least one top-10 finisher in eight of nine
conventional tournaments this year, and the team has tallied 15 top-10
finishes in all. The Cowboys have three medalist honors to their credit
this season and have notched nine top-five individual performances.
For the first time in recorded school history (since Mike Holder's first season of 1973-74), OSU has used the same lineup for every tournament.
Edward Loar ranks tied for fifth in school history with five career individual titles.
Charles Howell's current career stroke average (71.42) is ahead of the school record (71.62 by Scott Verplank). His amazing 70.07 average this season is also on school-record pace.
OSU cleaned up when the Big 12 announced its annual awards. Howell was named the Player of the Year and the Student-Athlete of the Year, and Holder was co-coach of the year. Loar, Anders Hultman and Landry Mahan each joined Howell on the all-conference first team. In addition, Howell was named first-team Academic All-Big 12, Hultman received honorable mention.
OSU Year-by-Year at The Maxwell
Year Champion (Score) OSU Finish (Margin) Top Individual Score 1992 Arizona (833) 2nd (2 behind) 6. Chris Tidland 208 1993 Georgia Tech (842) 3rd (12 behind) 4. Chris Tidland 211 1994 Arizona State (855) 2nd (6 behind) 4. Trip Kuehne 212 1995 Texas (847) 4th (22 behind) 18. Trip Kuehne* 217 1996 OSU (861) (6 ahead) 1. Brian Guetz 207 1997 OSU (853) (7 ahead) 1. Edward Loar 205 1998 OSU (858) (1 ahead) T7. Charles Howell 215 1999 Houston (864) 3rd (14 behind) T7. Anders Hultman 215
* - Jay Tewell (tied for fourth) and Greg Robertson (tied for sixth) competed as individuals, Kuehne was the top team-scoring Cowboy.
Loar's 205 is OSU's best individual score at The Maxwell and was his career-low score until this season. The school's best team score was an 835 in 1992.
Cowboy Quick Facts
Location Stillwater, Okla. Enrollment 21,216 Colors Orange and Black President Dr. James Halligan Athletics Director Dr. Terry Don Phillips Head Coach Mike Holder (27th year) Alma Mater Oklahoma State, 1970 Assistant Mike McGraw (Third year) Alma Mater Central Oklahoma, 1982 Home Course Karsten Creek 1999 Maxwell Finish Third Top Individual 7. Anders Hultman 2000 Big 12 Finish First Top Individual 1. Charles Howell Conference Titles 48 (Three Big 12, 36 Big 8, nine Mo. Valley) 1999 NCAA Finish Second Top Individual 5. Charles Howell NCAA Titles Eight (1963, '76, '78, '80, '83, '87, '91, '95) 1999-2000 Medalists Three (Charles Howell, Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate and Big 12 Championship, Edward Loar, Compaq U.S. Collegiate Championship)
OSU vs. the Field
Here's how the Cowboys fared head-to-head this year against this other
schools in The Maxwell's field (head-to-head victories are marked with
pluses, losses are marked with hyphens, ties are marked with equal signs):
Georgia 2-2-1 (=1, -3, -4, +6, +8) Houston 6-1 (+1, +2, -3, +4, +6, +7, +8) Louisiana did not play Mississippi State did not play Oklahoma 4-0 (+2, +5, +7, +9) Oklahoma City did not play South Carolina 4-1 (+1, +2, -4, +6, +7) Southern California 2-0 (+2, +7) SMU 3-0 (+2, +5, +7) Tennessee did not play Texas 5-1 (+1, +2, -4, +6, +7, +9) Texas A&M 2-0 (+7, +9)
Team Matchup Key
1. Ping-Golfweek Preview Invitational 2. Taylor Made Red River Classic 3. Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate 4. Rolex/Golf World/Palmetto Dunes Collegiate Invitational 5. John Burns Intercollegiate 6. Las Vegas Intercollegiate 7. Cleveland Golf/Morris Williams 8. Compaq U.S. Collegiate Championship 9. Big 12 Championship
National Rankings
Here's a look at where this weekend's competition ranks in the MasterCard
Collegiate Golf Rankings of May 10.
Team Rankings
3. Oklahoma State 4. Georgia 10. Houston 22. South Carolina 23. Texas 31. Oklahoma 32. Mississippi State 33. Southern California 39. Texas A&M 44. Tennessee
