2013 Golf Championships Begin Friday

The 2013 Horizon League Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships begin Friday with play being held at the Mission Inn Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.

The Championships are a 54-hole event played over three days with the men playing on the El Campeon Course and the women playing on the Las Colinas course.

Last year’s champion on the women’s side, Lindsey Lammers of Detroit, returns to highlight the women’s field. Youngstown State also returns two players who finished in the top-seven last season in Allison Mitzel and Sarah Heimlich.

Lammers and her Titan teammates enter the tournament seeded No. 1, while the Penguins are the No. 2 seed.

Cleveland State is the No. 3 seed, Valparaiso the No. 4, Loyola the No. 5, UIC the No. 6 seed and Green Bay rounds out the field as the No. 7 seed.

The seeds for the seven-team field are determined by golfstat.com’s rankings of all NCAA teams.

On the men’s side, four of the top-five finishers from last season return, led by last season’s individual champion, Chad Ebert. Ebert’s teammate, Cam Fuller, who finished in a tie for second-place last season also is back for the Phoenix. Loyola’s Alex Cusumano, who tied with Fuller, is back for the Ramblers and Cleveland State’s Jonathon Riemer, who finished fifth last season, returns. The Ramblers are the top-seed in the men’s tournament as they are the defending champions in the event. The rest of the field is set by the current golfstat rankings. Cleveland State is the No. 2 seed and Detroit is the third-seed. Valparaiso is the fourth-seed, Youngstown State the fifth, Wright State the sixth, and Green Bay is the seventh-seed.

The first round of both championships begins at 7:30 a.m. ET.

Men’s Tee Times:
Women’s Tee Times:

The tournament’s final round is Sunday with the winning men’s and women’s team advancing to the NCAA Tournament.

HORIZON LEAGUE POSTSEASON AWARDS

Prior to the beginning of the tournament Friday morning, the 14 teams in the tournament gathered in the ballroom at the Mission Inn Resort and celebrated the 2013 regular season by giving out its yearly season-ending awards.

Detroit’s Lindsey Lammers was named Women’s Golfer of the Year, while Cleveland State’s Andrew Bailey repeated as the Men’s Golfer of the Year. Lammers has competed in seven tournaments this season and has finished in the top-five of all seven tournaments, finishing as the individual medalist twice. Bailey averaged 72.77 a round this season as he has finished near the top of the leaderboard in all of his competitions this season. In nine tournaments, the three-time All-League selection has finished 20^th or better in eight of them.

Green Bay’s Katie Pokrandt was named the Women’s Newcomer of the Year. In her rookie campaign, Pokrandt has four top-10 finishes. Wil Wittmann of Detroit was named the Men’s Newcomer of the Year.

The women’s All-League team consisted of Lammers and her teammates Collette Hansen and Christina Thorne, Ariel Sparrow (Cleveland State), April Ohlendorf (Loyola), Michelle Kleckner and Kelly Voigt (Valparaiso) and Sarah Heimlich (Youngstown State).

The men’s All-League team entailed Bailey and teammates Jonathan Riemer and Michael Balcar, Brendan Leonard (Detroit), Austin Gaugert and Kyle Henning (Valparaiso), Cody Fixari (Wright State) and Mark Olbrych (Youngstown State).

The Women’s Coach of the Year was Detroit’s Terri Anthony-Ryan, while Valparaiso’s David Gring was named the Men’s Coach of the Year.

Women’s All-League (ties are not broken)
Ariel Sparrow, Cleveland State
Collette Hansen, Detroit
Lindsey Lammers, Detroit
Christina Thorne, Detroit
April Ohlendorf, Loyola
Michelle Kleckner, Valparaiso
Kelly Voigt, Valparaiso
Sarah Heimlich, Youngstown State

Women’s Newcomer of the Year: Katie Pokrandt, Green Bay
Women’s Player of the Year:Lindsey Lammers, Detroit
Women’s Coach of the Year: Terri Anthony-Ryan, Detroit

Men’s All-League (ties are not broken)
Andrew Bailey, Cleveland State
Michael Balcar, Cleveland State
Jon Riemer, Cleveland State
Brendan Leonard, Detroit
Austin Gaugert, Valparaiso
Kyle Henning, Valparaiso
Cody Fixari, Wright State
Mark Olbrych, Youngstown State

Men’s Newcomer of the Year: Wil Wittmann, Detroit
Men’s Player of the Year: Andrew Bailey, Cleveland State
Men’s Coach of the Year: David Gring, Valparaiso