Wheeling, W.Va. – Last season, the Wheeling University Men’s Golf team was one of the youngest teams on campus. They were a group consisting of mostly freshmen and sophomores, most of whom were embarking on their first collegiate seasons. In 2022, the group returns mostly intact with another year of experience under their belt as the team released its 2022 Fall schedule, featuring three invitationals throughout the month of September, leading up to the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Championships in early October.
During the 2021 season, the Men’s Golf team saw it’s fair share of ups and downs. They finished ninth in the 2021 MEC Championships, but still had solid performances from guys competing in their first collegiate championship invite. Two of the leaders for the Cardinals were freshman Blake Ring-Fish and sophomore Nick Zaller. Zaller had competed in the Spring MEC Championship, and posted similarly strong numbers from his freshman season, leading the way for the Cardinals with a two-round score of 171. Ring-Fish was competing in his first career MEC Championship event and shot a tournament best 89 in round one and finished with a total score of 179.
The year begins on Labor Day weekend when the team heads to the Cal-U Invitational on September 4th and 5th at the Cedar Brook Golf Course in nearby Belle Vernon, PA. It is the same event that the Cardinals opened their season last year, and will give them a chance to measure their progress after a year of collegiate golf. They follow that up with their first MEC invitational of the year, when they head to the Charleston Invitational the following week, September 13th and 14th. All of the MEC teams will be at this event and it will be the Cardinals first chance to see the competition they are going to be battling with for the championship less than a month later. The MEC Invitational stretch continues into the end of September as the Cardinals head to the West Liberty Invitational September 25th through the 27th.
Then, the MEC Championship ran in early October from the 3rd to the 5th at Avalon Lakes Country Club. They finished eighth overall as a team during the first two rounds of the tournament and failed to make it to the third day. This season, they are hoping to crack the top six and make it to the final round on the fifth to stay alive for an MEC Championship. Once the Championships wrap up, the Cardinals will finish the fall with one final invitational at Davis & Elkins college to wrap up their fall season. It will give them a chance to get one more round of live action in as they prepare for the spring season. It is an MEC heavy schedule for the Cardinals as they will get plenty of chances to match up with their MEC opponents.
The Wheeling University Men’s Golf team reports to campus on Sunday, August 21st, as they begin training for their first invitational of the year on Sunday, September 4th.