ComDetition Level Rises in AIC Golf i 0 Men Experience Rough Season The Bison golf team played like a roller coaster in 1993 - up in one tournament and down in the next. After a third-place Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference finish in 1992, Coach Scott Ragsdale hoped to break into the "upper crust" of AIC golf. But inexperience and the loss of seniors Todd Rinehart and Darrell Welch left the team pitching out of the sand trap and into a rough season. "We really played on about the same level as last year when we came in at third place ," Ragsdale said. "But the level of competition in the AIC has been stepped up. To be competitive, we will have to get much better. " The season got off to a slow start with two losses in three-way matches to Ouachita Baptist/ Henderson State and Arkansas Tech/ Central Arkansas . But Kevin Kelly shot a 75 against Rhodes College to help Harding bounce back and take a 309-333 win. In the Bisons ' first AIC match, James Clark shot a 77 and Matt Tiller a 78, but Harding couldn't touch a hot Tech team. Harding finished in sixth place with a score of 319, 28 points behind the ATU Wonder Boys. Harding again faced Rhodes College and again walked off the green with a win. This time though, Bart McFarland stepped up with a score of 79 as the Bisons took a hard-fought 338-347 victory. The Bisons finished in sixth place in the next three conference matches and completed the season in sixth place overall with 27.5 points. The Bisons had some individual highlights as James Clark was named to the All-District 17 squad and Bart McFarland landed a hole-in-one in AIC play. "We just played below our potential ," Ragsdale said. "It was disappointing to the athletes. They worked hard, but things just didn 't work out. " - Bart Blasengame 'SEASON AT A GLANCE ATU HSU SAU OBU 53 UCA 33 43 35.5 34 HU UAM AC Ozarks Coach Scott Ragsdale sets an examplef or team m embe rs James Clark, Bart McFarland andjohnHarris. McFarland sank a hole-in-one during conferen ce play . Photo by David Hickman . 27.5 26 12 6 Matt Tiller takes a swing. The Bison golf team took six th overa ll in AIC division play . Photo by David Hickman. Golf ~S_p_o-rt-s ~~~·~~--rp--';:;- 245
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