Sept. 16, 2003
Central Missouri Wins The Men's Golf Truman Classic
Central Missouri was the only team to break 300 on Tuesday at the Kirksville Country Club as its men's golf team won the Truman Classic, the first MIAA scoring event of the 2003-04 season. Truman shot rounds of 304 and 313 and finished fifth in the final team standings and fourth among the MIAA schools.
Central Missouri's Hank Koehly won the individual title after winning a four-way playoff against teammates Brian Doolan and Eric Poppitz and Washburn's Garrett Donavon. All four shot a 145 in the two-day event. Koehly sank a long putt for birdie on the second playoff hole (hole No. 17) to win the title. Using a scorecard tiebreaker, Poppitz finished second, Donavon was third, Doolan was fourth and Winona State's Eric Loeffler was fifth. Loeffler shot a 146, tying with his teammate Justin Carrier.
Truman was led by junior Jason Bertram (Manchester, Mo./Parkway South) who tied for 11th after rounds of 73-77=150. Senior Jake Mann (Monmouth, Ill./Monmouth) was second on the team and tied for 21 overall with a 76-79=155. Freshman Jesse Helms (Hillsboro, Mo./Hillsboro) opened his college career with rounds of 76 and 80 and tied for 25th with a 156.
Rounding out the Bulldogs squad was senior Brett Meeske (Moline, Ill./Moline) and junior Austin George (Wichita, Kan./Andover). Meeske carded a 80-77=157 and tied for 31st while George had a score of 79-84=163, tying for 43rd overall.
Truman men's golf team will be in action against on Sept. 22-23 at the Central Regional Fall Invitational in Detroit Lakes, Minn.