05/2/08
After a dispute over the method of scoring, the Baker University men’s golf team finally got what it deserved.
Senior Michael Kahler placed first individually in the Heart of America Athletic Conference championship and helped lead his team to runner-up in the tournament.
Freshman Chris Wilson finished his season placing seventh overall and making the all-conference team.
The team traveled April 23 to play at Paradise Pointe Golf Course in Smithville, Mo., to compete in the Region V and HAAC championship tournaments simultaneously.
While the Region V tournament consists of 54 holes over a two-day period, the HAAC championship is usually a 36-hole tournament.
Kahler finished the first 36 holes with a combined total of 145 strokes, scoring 72 the first day and 73 the second. Par was 72.
“As a senior to win it, it’s kind of the ideal way to go out,” Kahler said. “It’s surreal now to think about because there are a lot of golfers in our conference, and to win it, it couldn’t be more perfect. I don’t think the story could be written better.”
Wilson was only five strokes behind, finishing the tournament with 150 strokes, scoring 77 and 73.
“I’m really happy with how our team did,” Wilson said. “We beat some really good teams throughout the season, including Lindenwood University and a couple of other teams that were ranked.”
Head coach Karen Exon said the dispute occurred when other coaches began scoring the conference championship using the scores from all 54 holes.
“The HAAC bylaws say the men’s conference tournament will be played on the last Thursday and Friday of April,” Exon said. “In general, there will be two 18-hole rounds.”
While many coaches wanted to continue with the 54-hole scoring method, Exon said she didn’t feel it was logical.
“You would think we’d use the first 36 holes to define HAAC, and then use the last 18 plus the first 36 holes to define regionals,” Exon said.
After the first day of 36 holes, Kahler had the lowest scores, which would have made him the conference champion.
“I was looking at the scores, and I was thinking I may have just done this,” Kahler said. “I called my parents and told them I could be the winner because I had the best scores. The whole team was telling me I had won. I thought it was a 36-hole thing.”
When Kahler returned the second day to the final awards ceremony, he said he was thrown off guard when scores for all 54 holes were posted.
“Immediately my heart just sank,” Kahler said. “I went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in the matter of 30 seconds.”
While the team held it together during the ceremony, Exon said she and the team expressed their concerns on the van ride home. Knowing it was against the HAAC bylaws to base the scores on all 54 holes, Exon got on the phone with Assistant Athletic Director Theresa Yetmar to begin planning what to do next.
“The whole trip back I kind of sat in my chair and was depressed,” Kahler said. “There were some tears involved. It was just depressing.”
After returning to Baldwin City, Exon discussed the issue with Athletic Director Dan Harris. He decided to make an institutional appeal to the conference commissioner, which ordered the scoring to be redone, this time using only the first 36 holes for scoring.
“The way the HAAC tournament was scored was unfortunate and very disappointing,” Exon said. “I’m happy with the way it turned out, but at the time the guys were not given what awards should have been theirs.”
Kahler said he was elated when he found out the appeal was going through, and he was the conference champion.
“I gave a Tiger (Woods) fist pump in the library,” Kahler said.
Ending as the conference champion was the greatest way to finish his senior season, but he said he couldn’t have done it without his teammates.
The Wildcats competed in the Region V tournament at the same time, and finished fourth overall with a combined team score of 932 strokes.