Oklahoma State University Athletics
Men's Golf Prepares for Big 12 Championships
April 15, 2003 | Cowboy Golf
OSU looks to continue league tourney success The sixth-ranked Oklahoma State men's golf team will try to remain the only team to win a Big 12 title when it competes in this week's conference championship. After joining the Big Eight in 1958, the Cowboys won 36 of 39 league titles; OSU won the last four Big Eight titles as well as 11 of the last 12 and 26 of the last 28, and the Cowboys won the inaugural Big 12 title by 10 strokes last season. OSU has had 31 different conference medalists in the past 40 years, including last year's champion, Leif Westerberg.
The Cowboys in 1997-98 OSU enters the conference tournament on its longest winless string in six years. However, the Cowboys have finished third or higher in all but two of their 10 events this season, including runner-up finishes at the Ping/Golfweek Preview in September and the U.S. Collegiate Championship in early April. The Cowboys have produced 13 top-10 individuals in their nine conventional tournaments, and sophomore Edward Loar earned the team's only medalist honor of the season when he won the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in September. The Cowboys are perhaps the youngest team in school history, with two true freshmen and two sophomores in their regular lineup. Last season, Loar became the first true freshman in school history to lead the team in stroke average; this year, Charles Howell is aiming to become the second ever as well as the second consecutive.
50-plus years of history Oklahoma State celebrated its 51st year of varsity golf last season by winning its 46th conference title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the 51st time. The Cowboys have won eight national titles and have finished fifth or higher 42 times. Thirty-eight OSU golfers have won conference titles, and the Cowboys have produced six NCAA medalists and 119 All-Americans. In the 25 years under head coach Mike Holder, OSU has entered 347 tournaments and won 154 titles for a 44.3 winning percentage. In addition, the Cowboys have posted 82 runner-up finishes, meaning that OSU has finished first or second 68.0 percent of the time.
Head Coach Mike Holder In the last 25 years, Mike Holder's name has become synonymous with success in college golf. He has coached 89 All-Americans, including 32 first-team choices, and his teams have won 22 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 1997 Big 12 Championship
Leif Westerberg recorded the second individual title of his career and earned Big 12 Student-Athlete-of-the-Year honors as he led the Cowboys to their 46th conference title and the first Big 12 Conference championship. The victory spurred OSU on to its hottest stretch of the season; the conference title was the first of three consecutive tournament crowns. The Cowboys followed their league championship with wins at The Maxwell and the NCAA Central Regional before a fifth-place finish in the NCAA Championship as OSU played in its 51st consecutive national tournament.
A brief look at the Cowboys
Charles Howell * Fr. * Augusta, Ga. (Westminster Prep) After Loar became the first true freshman to lead OSU in stroke average last season, Howell is trying to duplicate the feat this year (72.23 overall, 71.09 in the spring) ... began the spring red-hot, finishing in the top 10 in the first four events since the start of the calendar year ... had two second-place finishes, at the Morris Williams and the U.S. Collegiate Championship ... also played well at the Rolex Match Play Championships, winning his matches 5 and 4, 3 and 2 and 6 and 4 ... first-team academic All-Big 12 and one of only two golfers so honored to compile a 4.00 GPA (Summerhays was the other).
Edward Loar * So. * Rockwall, Texas (Rockwall) Loar began the year as the nation's top-ranked player after winning the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate to open the season and has remained in the top 10 ever since ... finished fourth or higher in the first three tournaments of the year ... already tied for 11th in school history with three career individual titles ... finished 12th at last year's Big 12 Championship ... tied with Howell for the team lead in top-10 finishes with four and is OSU's only medalist so far this year.
Landry Mahan * So. * Richardson, Texas (Berkner) Though he stands at just 5-foot-4, Mahan is a long hitter ... had the best finish of his career with a third-place showing at last week's ASU Thunderbird/SAVANE Invitational ... competed as an individual at that Arizona State tournament ... also reached the top 10 when he finished 10th at the Ping-Golfweek Preview ... finished 16th at last year's Big 12 Championship ... Rolex First-Team All-American in 1994.
Boyd Summerhays * Fr. * Farmington, Utah (Davis) An academic All-Big 12 first-team honoree, Summerhays has competed in all but one OSU tournament this year ... joined Howell as the only Big 12 men's golf student-athletes to record 4.00 GPAs ... recorded the best finish of his career last week when he was 11th at the ASU Thunderbird/SAVANE Invitational ... also finished in the top 20 at the Golf World/Palmetto Dunes, where he tied for 20th with an even-par 216, his best 54-hole performance of the year.
Bo Van Pelt * Sr. * Richmond, Ind. (Richmond) A first-team All-American in 1997, Van Pelt has finished in the top three in two of OSU's last three tournaments ... tied Howell for second at the Cleveland Golf/Morris Williams Intercollegiate; tied Mahan for third at the ASU Thunderbird/SAVANE Invitational ... moved up 17 spots in the MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings last week and currently stands at No. 33 ... tied for 33rd at last year's Big 12 Championship, the only conference tournament he's participated in as a Cowboy.
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 ... Although the Cowboys have just one medalist honor to their credit this season, the Cowboys have notched nine top-five individual performances ... OSU owns a 104-29-5 head-to-head record against all opponents this year and has a losing record against just one team it has met more than once.
Cowboy Quick Facts Location Stillwater, Okla. Enrollment 19,201 Colors Orange and Black President Dr. James Halligan Athletics Director Dr. Terry Don Phillips
Head Coach Mike Holder (25th year) Alma Mater Oklahoma State, 1970 Assistant Mike McGraw (First year) Alma Mater Central Oklahoma, 1982 Home Course Karsten Creek
1997 Big 12 Finish First Top Individual 1. Leif Westerberg Conference Titles 46 (one Big 12, 36 Big 8, nine Mo. Valley)
1997 NCAA Finish Fifth Top Individuals T15. Bo Van Pelt T15. Leif Westerberg NCAA Titles Eight (1963, '76, '78, '80, '83, '87, '91, '95)
1997-98 Medalists One (Edward Loar, Tucker Intercollegiate)
OSU vs. the Field Here's how the Cowboys fared head-to-head against Big 12 competition this year (head-to-head losses in italics): Baylor did not play Colorado 2-0 (Tucker Intercoll., Burns Intercoll.) Iowa State did not play Kansas did not play Kansas State did not play Missouri did not play Nebraska did not play Oklahoma 4-0 (Tucker Intercoll., Burns Intercoll., Morris Williams, ASU Invit.) Texas 5-0 (Tucker Intercoll., Jerry Pate, Golf Digest, Morris Williams, ASU Invit.) Texas A&M 3-0 (Tucker Intercoll., Golf World, U.S. Collegiate) 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 22:
Team Rankings 6. Oklahoma State 258.753 28. Oklahoma 79.124 33. Texas A&M 52.388 34. Nebraska 51.352 36. Kansas 49.835 49. Texas 25.381
Individual Rankings 8. Brad Elder, UT 209.416 10. Edward Loar, OSU 206.015 20. Chris Thompson, KU 171.806 21. Charles Howell, OSU 164.733 32. Kevin Muncrief, OU 126.450 33. Bo Van Pelt, OSU 122.623 38. Miguel Del Angel, TAMU 112.924 52. Hunter Haas, OU 91.240 57. Ryan Vermeer, KU 83.310 73. Jamie Rogers, NU 69.030 84. Landry Mahan, OSU 60.370 93. Ryan Palmer, TAMU 53.164
