Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Looks to Continue League Tourney Success
April 10, 2003 | Cowboy Golf
The Cowboys in 1998-99 OSU picked up an important tournament victory when it won the Ping-Golfweek Preview in its first competition of the year Sept. 28-29. However, the Cowboys have not won a tournament since that opener on the site of the NCAA Championship, although OSU has finished out of the top five just twice in nine events. Both Charles Howell, at the Preview, and Edward Loar, at the Golf World/Palmetto Dunes Invitational on Nov. 6-8, have won medalist honors during the season. Until Anders Hultman's 13th-place finish at last week's ASU Thunderbird/Savane Invitational, either Howell or Loar had led the Cowboys in every tournament this season.
50-plus years of history Oklahoma State celebrated its 52nd year of varsity golf last season by winning its 47th conference title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the 52nd time. The Cowboys have won eight national titles and have finished fifth or higher 43 times. Thirty-eight OSU golfers have won conference titles, and the Cowboys have produced six NCAA medalists and 122 All-Americans. In the 26 years under head coach Mike Holder, OSU has entered 356 tournaments and won 155 titles for a 43.5 winning percentage. In addition, the Cowboys have posted 83 runner-up finishes, meaning that OSU has finished first or second 66.9 percent of the time.
Head Coach Mike Holder In the last 26 years, Mike Holder's name has become synonymous with success in college golf. He has coached 92 All-Americans, including 32 first-team choices, and his teams have won 23 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 1998 Big 12 Championship OSU's five-year conference tournament winning streak was in jeopardy after the Cowboys found themselves in fourth place after one round at last year's Big 12 Championship. The Cowboys trailed first-place Texas A&M by six strokes at that point, and even a stellar second round couldn't put OSU in first place by the end of the day as Texas held a one-shot lead. But OSU's final-round 291 helped the Cowboys pull away from the Longhorns and the rest of the pack as OSU won by seven strokes. Charles Howell, Bo Van Pelt and Edward Loar finished third, fourth and sixth, respectively, to carry the Pokes' late charge.
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 13 top-10 finishes in all.
The Cowboys have two medalist honors to their credit this season and have notched seven top-five individual performances.
Sophomore Peter Davidson returned to OSU's lineup last week for the first time this spring. He had been out of commission with a broken left little finger, an injury suffered in a weight-training mishap.
OSU had a fabulous start to the season even before the school year began. At the U.S. Amateur, Charles Howell recorded the second-best stroke-place score in the tournament and then reached the third round; Landry Mahan also qualified for match play and reached the quarterfinals.
Freshman Anders Hultman has improved dramatically this spring, finishing in the top 20 in three of the past four events.
With the Big 12 Championship heading into just its third year, OSU owns almost every league-tournament record: Leif Westerberg's first-round 67 in 1997 is the best single round turned in during the event's first two years, and he owns two of the only three under-par rounds recorded by any player on Prairie Dunes' par-70 circuit in the past two years. Charles Howell's final-round 70 last year is the best individual 18-hole score on the tournament's final day.
OSU's lineup had not been set at the time of this writing. Six players -- Davidson, Howell, Hultman, Loar, Mahan and freshman Nick Seymour -- have played in five or more tournaments.
Redshirt freshman Bret Guetz, whose brother, Brian, was an All-American at OSU, hails from Littleton, Colo. However, neither Guetz nor current OSU volunteer assistant basketball coach Brooks Thompson, also a Littleton native, attended Columbine High School, the site of the unspeakably tragic shooting of April 20.
The Cowboy Roster (regular lineup denoted by asterisks)
Name / Yr./ Hometown / Stroke Avg. / Nat'l Rank
Peter Davidson* So. Hollviken, Sweden 75.00 ---
Missed most of spring with broken finger
Bret Guetz Fr. Littleton, Colo. 79.00 ---
Brother of ex-OSU All-American Brian Guetz
Charles Howell* So. Augusta, Ga. 71.11 6
Ranked among national top 10 all year
Anders Hultman* Fr. Gothenburg, Sweden 73.07 62
Nation's seventh-ranked freshman
Edward Loar* Jr. Rockwall, Texas 71.44 13
Five top-10 finishes this year
Billy Lowry Fr. Ada, Okla. --- ---
Former state of Oklahoma high-school champ
Landry Mahan* Jr. Richardson, Texas 73.70 73
Top-20 finishes in three of last five tourneys
Nick Seymour Fr. Tustin, Calif. 76.28 ---
Filled in for injured Davidson for most of spring
OSU at the Big 12 Tournament
1997
Team Scores / Individual OSU Scores
1. Oklahoma State 290-294-298-882 1. Leif Westerberg 67-68-76-211
2. Texas 300-297-295-892 12. Edward Loar 72-76-75-223
3. Iowa State 295-290-316-901 13. Brian Guetz 78-75-72-225
4. Kansas 301-299-302-902 T16. Landry Mahan 75-75-78-228
5. Oklahoma 303-302-299-904 T33. Bo Van Pelt 76-83-75-234
1998
Team Scores / Individual OSU Scores
1. Oklahoma State 312-295-291-898 3. Charles Howell 74-76-70-220
2. Texas 307-299-299-905 T4. Bo Van Pelt 81-71-73-225
3. Colorado 317-307-294-918 T6. Edward Loar 77-75-74-226
4. Oklahoma 311-311-297-919 T8. Boyd Summerhays 80-73-74-227
5. Texas A&M 306-321-302-929 T56. Landry Mahan 87-85-84-256
Cowboy Quick Facts
Location Stillwater, Okla.
Enrollment 20,466
Colors Orange and Black
President Dr. James Halligan
Athletics Director Dr. Terry Don Phillips
Head Coach Mike Holder (26th year)
Alma Mater Oklahoma State, 1970
Assistant Mike McGraw (Second year)
Alma Mater Central Oklahoma, 1982
Home Course Karsten Creek
1998 Big 12 Finish First
Top Individual 3. Charles Howell
Conference Titles 47
(Two Big 12, 36 Big 8, nine Mo. Valley)
1998 NCAA Finish Fourth
Top Individual T15. Edward Loar
NCAA Titles Eight
(1963, '76, '78, '80, '83, '87, '91, '95)
1998-99 Medalists Two
OSU vs. the Field
Here's how the Cowboys fared head-to-head against Big 12 competition this
year (head-to-head losses are in italics; ties are underlined):
Baylor did not play
Colorado did not play
Iowa State did not play
Kansas 0-0-1 (ASU Thunderbird/Savane Inv.)
Kansas State did not play
Missouri did not play
Nebraska did not play
Oklahoma 5-0 (Taylor Made Red River Classic, John A. Burns Inter.,
Cleveland Golf/Morris Williams Inter., U.S. Collegiate,
ASU Thunderbird/Savane Inv.)
Texas 2-2 (Taylor Made Red River Classic, Golf Digest
Collegiate Inv., Cleveland Golf/Morris Williams Inter.,
ASU Thunderbird/Savane Inv.)
Texas A&M 3-0 (Taylor Made Red River Classic, Golf World/Palmetto
Dunes Collegiate Inv., Cleveland Golf/Morris Williams Inter.)
Texas Tech did not play
National Rankings
Here's a look at where Big 12 schools rank in the MasterCard Collegiate Golf
Rankings of April 21:
Team Rankings
6. Oklahoma State
8. Texas
15. Nebraska
22. Oklahoma
30. Kansas
43. Baylor
Individual Rankings
2. David Gossett, UT 346.600
6. Charles Howell, OSU 255.257
13. Edward Loar, OSU 199.950
25. Hunter Haas, OU 148.473
39. Ryan Palmer, TAMU 106.800
44. Brandon Huffman, UT 102.000
45. Ryan Vermeer, KU 101.149
48. Jamie Rogers, NU 95.339
51. Steve Friesen, NU 83.191
62. Anders Hultman, OSU 68.670
73. Landry Mahan, OSU 59.864
84. Chris Thompson, KU 54.732
87. Knut Ekjord, CU 52.082
96. Jake Istnick, KU 49.250
98. Kelsey Cline, OU 46.450
