Ale Golf Rules Modified Optimism always seems to pervade through golf coach Phil Watkins, and 1979 is no exception. Four of his top five golfers in 1978 returned, including sophomore Brent Taylor of Bartlesville , Okla ., who placed second in the 1978 Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference Championships. Harding finished fifth in the 1978 AIC Meet, but Watkins expected sophomores Keith Goree of Pensacola , Fla., and Charles Wicker of Memphis , Tenn., along with junior Ken Whisenhunt of Idabel, Okla., to pace the Bisons to a higher finish this spring. The Bisons began the 1978 season on a winning note , defeating the University of Central Arkansas and Hendrix College in a triangular match at the Searcy Country Club. Taylor led the Bisons, perhaps an indication of things to come in the future . Venturing through an assortment of matches with other AIC schools, Harding consistently placed second and third in the pentagular and quadrangular matches . Competing in the Heart of America Classic in Kansas City , the Bisons placed 12th with a team score of 625. Central Missouri State won the championship with a combined team score of 576. Two weeks later , the Bisons won their second match of the season - a quadrangular meet with Central Arkansas, Hendrix and Ouachita Baptist University at Conway. Taylor tied for medalist honors in that affair with a 70. Ouachita Baptist University claimed the 1978 AIC championship April 140" Golf 27-28 with a team score of 600. Harding finished with a 635, good enough for fifth place in the conference. Both Taylor and Jeff Price placed in the top ten of the .conference. "The players that returned this spring saw a lot of action in 1978," Harding coach Phil Watkins said. "We also have some fine newcomers on the squad." Freshman David Padgett of North Uttie Rock, Ark. , earned a spot among the top three on the Bison squad in the fall . Other key newcomers were freshman Randy Wooten of San Diego, Calif., David Isenberg of South Williamsport , Penn ., and sophomore Phil Barnett of West Monroe , La . The format for determining the AIC champion was changed this spring. Instead of a two-day tournament at the end of the season, the AIC championship was decided on the basis of six "tournaments" of 18 holes each. A tournament was sponsored each wee~ of April with a two-day tournament concluding the conference race. That twoday tournament was held concurrently with the NAIA District 17 Golf Championships. The winner of the conference was determined by overall rank through the six tournaments. 1. PHIL GARNEIT practices his drive at the new intramural field. 2. GOLF TEAM. Front row: Goree. Fowler, Tay/or, Edwards , Price. Back row: Sears, G. Whisenhunt , Phipps, Williford , K. Whisenhunt , Wicker, Coach Phil Watk ins. 3. ON A WARM afternoon, David Padgett perfects his golf swing. seaso!,..J rOUnuUp 1978 AIC GOLF RESULTS Ouachita Baptist University 600 Southern Arkansas University 607 University of Central Arkansas 612 Hendrix College 634 Harding College 635 Arkansas Tech University 677 U. of Arkansas-Monticello 706
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