Bucknell Men's Golf Through the Decades, Presented by Geisinger

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Varsity men's golf at Bucknell dates all the way back to 1939, but the sport of golf itself arrived at Bucknell a decade earlier. In December 1929, the Bucknell Board of Trustees unanimously approved the purchase of a farm for the purpose of building a golf course. Noted course architect Emil Loeffler designed the layout, and his brother Archie oversaw the construction at a cost of around $15,000.

The Bucknell Golf Club held its opening ceremonies on Oct. 31, 1930 as part of Homecoming Weekend. A sophomore named Ernie Graner won the inaugural 18-hole tournament that day with a score of 88.

The following spring, Harold Evans came to Bucknell as caddie master, working under head professional Murray Butler. Evans succeeded Butler as head pro in 1932, and he was just getting started on a legacy that would span more than 70 years of service to the Bucknell golf community. Evans was devoted to improving the condition and beauty of the Bucknell Golf Club throughout his tenure, and he oversaw the club's expansion from 9 to 18 holes in 1963.

Evans was also intent on making the sport of golf available to Bucknell students. He organized a club golf team for students, and in 1939 the sport gained varsity status and Evans was selected as the first head coach. The 1939 L'Agenda described the inaugural varsity team like this: "Coach Hal Evans is blessed with a group of excellent men with no member being exceptionally outstanding, but all having enough ability to turn out a well-balanced squad. Leading this year's link men will be Bill Johnson at number one post. The balance will be filled out with proven intramural swingers to lend a note of optimism to this addition in Bucknell's athletic program."

The yearbook was correct, as the 1939 Bucknell squad went a perfect 6-0 in dual matches. Evans would go on to win 144 dual matches as head coach, and from 1956-61 he guided the Bison to five Middle Atlantic Conference championships and two NCAA Tournament bids.

When Evans stepped down as head coach in 1966, he was succeeded by Hall-of-Famer Brad Tufts, who immediately led Bucknell to MAC title in his first season in 1966-67 and then other in 1972-73. Jeff Ranck coached some very good teams during his six-year run as head coach from 1975-81, and he helped Mike Chutz and Dave Richards earn Honorable Mention All-America recognition.

Hall-of-Famer Tommy Thompson coached the Bison golf squad from 1981-2001, winning an East Coast Conference title in 1986-87, when the team also posted a 17-1 dual record. Following Thompson's retirement, Jim Cotner was named head coach in 2001 and guided the Bison through one of their most successful eras. Led by recent Hall-of-Fame inductee Charlie Waddell, the Bison won back-to-back Patriot League titles in 2006 and 2007, and then after a runner-up finish they won it again in 2009.

Another highlight from Cotner's 14-year tenure was the opening of the sparking Bachman Golf Center in 2011. The indoor/outdoor training center, located just across the street from the 11th hole of the Bucknell Golf Club, features team locker rooms and gathering areas, indoor putting green and hitting bays with swing diagnostic equipment, as well as a full outdoor practice tee, putting green and short-game area.

Current head coach Michael Binney succeeded Cotner in 2015 and has had his teams in contention for conference titles each year. Binney's squads have won four tournament team titles, and he has had players break numerous individual and team scoring records.

Over the next several days we will be meeting alumni from past eras to reflect on their experiences competing with the Bucknell golf team. Special thanks to Geisinger for sponsoring the series.

1950 & 1960s
We wrap up our look back at the men's golf program Through the Decades with a flashback to the 1950s and 1960s. We are so pleased to be joined by Hall-of-Famers Brad Tufts and Bob Etzweiler '61, Curt Mull '62, Lowell Watson '67, George Benson '68 and Bob Miller '68. Bucknell captured Middle Atlantic Conference titles in 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960 and 1961, and Etzweiler held down the No. 1 or 2 position on each of the latter three championship squads. He was the MAC champion in 1959, even though he was one of the only players in the field that year without a caddie, as they had run out just before his tee time. Etzweiler was the MAC runner-up in 1960 and placed 5th in 1961. He qualified for the 1961 NCAA Individual Championship and was one of only five Eastern players in the match-play field of 64, and he was also part of the Bucknell team that advanced to the 1961 NCAA Championship at Purdue. Mull was the runner-up at the 1962 MAC Championship, finishing just one stroke off the lead. He was 10th at the 1961 MAC tourney and was a key part of that '61 NCAA team. Watson was the captain of the 1967 MAC title-winning squad, which was the first season in charge for Tufts after he replaced Hall-of-Famer Harold Evans. Watson was T-12th at the 1965 MAC Championship. Benson and Miller posted stellar career dual-match records of 18-9-1 and 16-9, respectively. They played on teams that posted a 30-8 record and finished 3rd-1st-2nd over their final three seasons.

1970s
Brad Tufts ushered the men's golf team into the 1970s, and the Bison continued to excel. They posted three straight 10-win seasons from 1970-71 to 1972-73, and in the latter year Bucknell captured the Middle Atlantic Conference championship in dramatic fashion. Playing at Host Farm in Lancaster, the Bison held off Temple by one shot and Delaware by three to claim the title. Dan Stetz was the runner-up in the individual standings, and Dave Meier and Chick Wagner finished T-9th. Meier, Wagner, Mike Helffrich and Greg Mordas all birdied the par-5 18th hole in the final round. Bucknell finished second to Temple the following year in its final season in the MAC. The Bison placed T-3rd in their first East Coast Conference Championship in 1975, and following that season Tufts passed the coaching reins along to Jeff Ranck. Bucknell had seven NCAA Tournament qualifiers during the 1970s, and Mike Chutz (1978) and Dave Richards (1979) both earned Honorable Mention All-America recognition. Ranck and five terrific players from the '70s join us for today's discussion. The alumni panelists include Stetz '73, Mickey Sinkus '74, Chick Wagner '76, Tod Pike '77 and Chutz '78. Stetz captained the team as a senior, when he was runner-up at the MAC Championship. Sinkus' top MAC finish was 6th in his senior campaign. Wagner set a team and Bucknell Golf Club record when he shot a 66 in 1975. He set Bucknell scoring records with a 73.8 season average and 76.4 career average. He was a two-time NCAA qualifier and was the winner of the ECAC Fall Championship in 1975. Pike finished T-7th (with Wagner) at the 1975 ECC Championship. He led the team with a 78.0 scoring average as a senior. Chutz enjoyed an outstanding career at Bucknell after transferring from Denison. He won the 1976 ECAC Qualifier and the 1978 NCAA District 2 Tournament. He finished third at the 1978 ECC Championship. It's also noteworthy that Pike and Wagner later became presidents of the Metropolitan Golf Association and Pennsylvania Golf Association, respectively.

1980s
The Bison men's golf team competed in the East Coast Conference throughout the 1980s, and it was a very successful decade. After Tommy Thompson handed the reins of the baseball team to Gene Depew in 1981, Thompson succeeded Jeff Ranck as head golf coach and started a 20-year run guiding the Bison linksmen. The 1980s came at the tail end of an era in which the team competed in quite a few head-to-head matches, and Bucknell posted winning dual-match records every season in the '80s. The 1985-86 squad went a perfect 13-0 in duals and fashioned a third-place finish in the ECC Championship for the third year in a row. A year later, the Bison went 17-1 in duals and broke through to win their first conference championship since 1973. That 1986-87 teed up its terrific campaign with a 13-stroke win at the Georgetown Invitational in the fall, and then at the end of Aprli the Bison ran away with an 11-shot victory over runner-up Delaware at the ECC Championship at Pocono Manor. Sophomore Scott Spangenberg was co-medalist, overcoming a five-shot deficit at the start of the final round. His dramatic chip-in for birdie on the final hole gave him the title. Pat Moylan finished 4th, and Bucknell placed five players in the top 10. Moylan '89 and Rob Wagner '81 join us for today's look back the the '80s. Moylan, who was also a three-year member of the Bison men's basketball team, posted the low average on the golf squad in the falls of 1985 and 1987. His 4th-place finish in 1987 earned him All-ECC honors. Wagner finished sixth at the 1981 ECC Championship. He was medalist at the 1981 Bucknell Invitational and held the team's low scoring average that season. Wagner was an NCAA Tournament individual qualifier in both 1979 and 1981.

1990s
Today we flash back to Tommy Thompson's teams of the 1990s. The Bison made a conference change in the first part of the decade, leaving the East Coast Conference for the Patriot League in 1990-91, and the Bison finished fourth in the inaugural Patriot League Championship at Colgate's Seven Oaks GC. Bucknell placed as high as third in the league during the decade, and Doug Dollenberg's runner-up finish on his home course in 1994 was the team's best individual showing. Six of the decade's top players join us for today's chat: David Fries '93, Dollenberg '94, Don Hansen '94, Jeff Graf '96, Josh Hartman '98 and Todd Schneider '99. Fries was a four-year letterman who finished 12th at both the 1990 ECC Championship and the 1993 Patriot League Championship. Dollenberg was a two-time All-Patriot Leaguer who posted the team's low average in each of his final three seasons. He won the Susquehanna Fall Classic in 1992, and was the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year in men's golf in 1992 and 1993. Hanson earned All-Patriot League honors with a 7th-place showing at the 1991 PL tourney. He recorded the team's low average in three different seasons. Like Dollenberg, Graf and Hartman were also two-time Patriot League Scholar-Athletes of the Year. Graf was an All-PL honoree in 1995, when he finished 6th at the PL Championship. Hartman was a two-time All-PL selection, as he finished 4th in 1996 and T-6th in 1997. Schneider also had a top-10 at the PL Championship, finishing 6th in 1998 to earn an All-PL medal.

2000s
As mentioned in the introduction, one of the finest stretches in team history games from 2005-09, when the Bison finished 2nd-1st-1st-2nd-1st at the Patriot League Championships. Charlie Waddell won back-to-back individual titles in '05 and '06, and he remains the only player in Patriot League history to win in consecutive years. In 2009, Andrew Cohen closed with rounds of 68-69 on the tricky West Point course to win his first championship after posting top-6 finishes in each of the two previous seasons. Bucknell won the team title in 2009 as well, which led to a third NCAA Regional appearance in a four year stretch. In 2006 and 2007 the Bison were sent out west to Arizona for Regionals in Tucson and Tempe, respectively. In 2009, Bucknell was slotted in the Central Regional at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Ky. Four of the top players from the decade join us on today's chat: Ben Pellicani '06, Waddell '07, Kyle Moran '07 and Andrew Cohen '10. Pellicani had a memorable 2005 PL Championship, when he broke the school record with a second-round 65 at the Bucknell Golf Club and ended up finishing second to Waddell by one shot in the individual standings. Waddell was inducted into the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018. He won two other college tournaments in addition to the two conference titles, and his 74.9 career scoring average was a school record at the time and still ranks fourth. Waddell was a four-time All-PL selection and was named to the Patriot League 25th Anniversary Team. Moran was another key contributor on those terrific championship teams. He was medalist at the 2004 Bucknell Invitational and posted a high Patriot League finish of 12th in 2006. Cohen is another of Bucknell's all-time greatest golfers. Like Waddell, he was a four-time all-league honoree, finishing T-4th, 6th, 1st and T-10th in his four PL Championship appearances. He was the league's Rookie of the Year in 2007, and he also logged a total of four career tournament wins. He posted a career-best 66 en route to the title at the 2010 Lafayette Invitational, and his 75.3 career scoring average currently ranks sixth in team history.

2010s
On our first installment of Bucknell Men's Golf Through the Decades, we catch up with six outstanding graduates from the 2010s, along with current senior Chris Tanabe, a mulitple tournament winner and record-breaker in his own right. Joining us for the chat are Will Bachman '12, Schuyler Stitzer '14, Peter Scialabba '15, Jubal Early '19, Connor O'Brien '19 and J.P. Raftery '19. Bachman was a key member of the Bison lineup all four years, he posted a top Patriot League Championship finish of 17th, and his 66 at the 2010 Colgate Invitational is tied for the lowed in school history in relation to par (-6). Stitzer finished 4th at the 2013 PL Championship to earn First Team All-PL honors, and he was a two-time Academic All-PL selection. His 76.2 career scoring average ranks 10th in team history. Scialabba was the 2012 PL Rookie of the Year after finishing as the league runner-up. His low round was 67 at the 2014 Binghamton Invitational. Early earned All-PL honors in 2017 after finishing T-7th at the PL Championship. He shot a career-best 67 in the opening round of that event. O'Brien's career scoring average of 75.2 is fifth-best in team history. He was an all-conference honoree as a junior after finishing T-10th at the PL Championship. His career low round was a 67 at the 2017 Cornell Invitational, and O'Brien was also a two-time Academic All-PL selection. Raftery will go down as one of the top players in team history. His 74.0 career scoring average is a team record, and he posted low rounds of 67 three times. Raftery was the Patriot League Rookie of the Year in 2016 after a runner-up finish at the PL Championship, and he finished 2nd again the following season and 9th in 2018. Raftery's sensational 6-under 204 (67-68-69) in 2017 is the best league championship score in school history.

Bucknell Men's Golf Through the Decades, Presented by Geisinger

Players Mentioned

Jubal Early

Connor O'Brien

J.P. Raftery

Chris Tanabe

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