May 5, 2004
Men's Golf Season Ends After A Strong Showing At The NCAA Regionals
On the final day of the NCAA Central Regional in Union, Ky., the Bulldog men's golf team, who entered the day in third-place, was able to overcome the day two leader. Unfortunately, they couldn't keep up with the second-place team after round two and finished second at the event.
Washburn shot a 294 on the final day, 12 shots better than any other team, and captured the regional title. The Ichabods, who also won this season's conference crown, now advances to the NCAA Championship event. Truman had the third-best round of the day with a 307 and jumped over Missouri Southern to finish runner-up at the tournament. The Bulldogs finished ahead of four MIAA schools, three of which finished higher than Truman in the MIAA standings this year. It was also a big jump for the team from previous regional standings. In 2002, the team finished seventh and last season, the team came in sixth at the event.
The two Bulldog seniors led the way for the team's impressive showing at the regional. Brett Meeske (Moline, Ill./Moline) and Jake Mann (Monmouth, Ill./Monmouth) entered the event with the highest scoring averages on the team but both shot a three-round score of 227 and tied for fourth overall. Meeske finished his career strong, shooting a 71 in the third-round, four shots better than his previous career-best. Mann was consistent throughout, shooting rounds of 76, 75 and 76.
Junior Austin George (Wichita, Kan./Andover) had a top-20 finish as he tied for 18th overall with a total of 234. Junior Jason Bertram (Manchester, Mo./Parkway South) finished 24th with 238 shots and freshman Jesse Helms (Hillsboro, Mo./Hillsboro) came in 37th with a three-day total of 250.
The men's golf squad ends a successful season with the top highlights being this week's results and capturing the Central Region Fall Invitational, the first tournament win for the team since the 1995-96 season. Bertram ended the season with the best average on the team, averaging 76.8 strokes a round. He led the team in five of the eight events he competed in. George ended the year with a 77.8 average which includes winning the Heart of America Invitational in March. Helms ended a successful freshman campaign with a 78.4 average. Meeske and Mann end their Truman golf careers with season averages of 78.5 and 79.0, respectively.