Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Golf Team Picked First in Patriot League Preseason Poll
2/7/2007 7:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Feb. 7, 2007
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell's men's golf team has been picked to repeat as Patriot League champion, according to the preseason poll of the league's head coaches and sports information directors announced Wednesday by the league office.
Led by 2005 and 2006 Patriot League Coach of the Year Jim Cotner, the Bison return five of their six starters from the lineup that captured the program's first-ever Patriot League title last spring and qualified as a team for the NCAA Championship for the first time since 1961. All told, four talented freshmen have joined nine returning lettermen to comprise a deep squad that posted two tournament wins and two runner-up finishes this fall.
The preseason poll was very close at the top. Bucknell received eight of the 14 first-place votes and accrued 66 points. Army, which received five first-place votes, was just two points back at 64. Navy picked up the last first-place nod and was picked third with 52 points, followed by Lehigh (45), Colgate (28), Holy Cross (22) and Lafayette (17).
Leading the way for Bucknell this spring will be senior Charlie Waddell, who last season became the first player in Patriot League history to repeat as men's golf individual champion. His 54-hole total of 210 at the U.S. Naval Academy Golf Course was good for a 10-shot victory. Fellow seniors Kyle Moran, Patrick Yingling and Chas Wagner are all back, as is junior Keita Aoki, who closed out the fall season with his first career win at the Mount St. Mary's Invitational.
The 2007 spring season begins March 24 at the George Washington Invitational in Rehoboth Beach, Del., with the Patriot League Championship scheduled for Apr. 21-22 at the West Point Golf Course.
