Men's Golf Looks to Carry Momentum Into PSAC Championship

Saturday, October 17

Hershey, PA

Millersville University

PSAC Championship

Men's Golf Looks to Carry Momentum Into PSAC Championship

10/15/2015 1:00:00 PM | Men's Golf

By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

PSAC MEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
	Millersville Marauders 2015 Scoring Average: 305.7 Previous PSAC Championship Finish: T3rd/8, 615 (+47) Best PSAC Championship Finish: 1st, four times (most recent, 2013) 2015 Head-to-Head vs. PSAC Teams: 6-7 Coach: Scott Vandegrift, 31st season Roster \| Schedule \| Statistics
	Tournament Information PSAC Tournament Central Date: Oct. 17-18, 2015 Location: Hershey Country Club East Course, Hershey, Pa. PSAC Championship History

· The field at the PSAC Men's Golf Championship is wide open. There are five teams that should challenge for the crown, and Millersville is one of them. There has been a different winner in each of the last three PSAC Championships with West Chester winning in 2014, Millersville in 2013 and Indiana (Pa.) in 2012. Millersville finished tied for third last season and has placed an individual in first in each of the last two. Conor Gilbert won medalist honors in 2013 and Robby Rowe tied for first before losing a playoff to Gannon's Matt Barto. Millersville has won four championships since 1999. The only program with more in that span is IUP with nine.
· The Marauders have momentum on their side, having won the Vulcan Invitational in a playoff with IUP just two days ago. Three Marauders, Rowe, Rodney Anders and Connor Sheehan, all placed in the top four. Rowe was edged in a three-hole playoff by IUP's Josh Bartley for medalist honors. While the Marauders have three top-three finishes in four tournaments, Golfstat.com has them rated as the No. 5 team in the PSAC. Mercyhurst is the highest-ranked, having won the Hal Hansen Invitational and Bud Elwell Classic at Gannon. Millersville did not play in the Hal Hansen, but Mercyhurst finished above IUP and California. California is the No. 2-rated team from the PSAC in the Golfstat.com rankings and won at the Glade Springs Intercollegiate--a tournament in which Millersville finished third. West Chester also owns a team title, winning the Urbana Invitational by six shots over Millersville. IUP is also a contender after taking the Marauders to a playoff earlier this week.
· There is likely no player in the field more motivated than Rowe. The Marauder senior is a two-time All-PSAC First Team selection, placing runner-up in 2014 and third in 2013. He held the first round lead in 2013. He is experienced at Hershey Country Club East Course, having won the Jake Gittlen Memorial there in the summer of 2014. He is still in search of his first career win but has placed in the top 10 in all four tournaments this season and has two runner-up finishes. He's finished in second five times in his career. His 74.4 scoring average is among the best in the league. Fellow individual contenders also include IUP's Kenneth Sames, who was the PSAC Golfer of the Year in 2014-15 and Mercyhurst's Chris Kupniewski, who won the the Bud Elwell Classic two weeks ago. California's Tyler Robinson and Kirby Manown have finished first and second in two tournaments. West Chester's Corey Smith won the Pete Dye Intercollegiate. Barto, the defending champ, has not been as sharp in his four tournaments this fall, owning an 80.4 scoring average.
· With Rowe's consistency, Millersville's PSAC Championship fortunes hinge on the performance of the rest of the lineup. Sophomore Connor Sheehan and senior Rodney Anders are both coming off career performances at the Vulcan Invitational. Their 4-over-par scores were 36-hole career lows. Sheehan has cracked the top-20 in three events this season. Anders has rallied from a disappointing opening tournament to finish 13th or higher in three consecutive events. Sophomore Bret Howey started the season with an impressive ninth-place finish at the Glade Springs Intercollegiate and followed that with a 13th-place finish the next week. Howey, however, shot back-to-back rounds over 80 at the Mercyhurst Invitational and opened with an 82 at the Vulcan Invitational. The fifth player in the lineup has alternated between freshmen Matt Keim and Axel Hartman. Hartman's 77.2 scoring average is third on the team and has a fourth-place finish at the Pete Dye Intercollegiate to his credit. He faltered to a 56th-place finish when he was in the lineup at Mercyhurst, though. Keim has played in all four tournaments, posting a 79.0 scoring average.
· Anders, Sheehan and Howey were all in the lineup at the PSAC Championship last season. Howey was Millersville's No. 2 scroer, tying for 10th at 11-over-par. Anders tied for 25th at 16-over. Sheehan finished at 17-over.