Oberlin men’s golf looks to begin a promising new season this Saturday, April 6 under the tutelage of Head Coach Blake New. The seven-player group begins the spring season as the first golf team at the College in nearly three decades, and despite some weather-related setbacks and the team’s general newness, its members seem optimistic about the talents of their fellow teammates, as well as their prospects for upcoming competition.
Sophomore Ed Geschke, of Carrum, Australia, who is expected to be one of the septet’s leaders, recently said, “We’re a new team. It’s the first time the College is going to have a team [in quite a while]. We’ve been practicing in the last month, though the weather hasn’t been nice. We just haven’t played all winter. It’s hard to get that together when you haven’t been practicing. But we have some good players, and hopefully we’ll get it together.”
First-year Jun Ando, of Tokyo, Japan, expressed a similarly hopeful sentiment, saying, “I think we’ll have a great season. A lot of the guys are really talented and experienced. I think we’ll make an impact. It’s all going well.”

His positive attitude may have been fueled by his experience on the group’s recent trip over spring break, during which the team was afforded the opportunity to practice at PGA Village in Boca Raton, Fla.. The men used its facilities and generally more hospitable climate to improve their golf skills while enjoying time off from academic responsibilities.
“We got to practice a lot. We played nice courses. It was a lot of fun in general, and we also got lots of golf in. It was just a good experience,” Ando said.

The rest of the group consists of seniors Aditya Malkani, also an expected team hopeful, and Osman Rana, as well as first-years Tom King, Terrance Woodson and Prithvi Reddy. The team looks to play in three invitational tournaments at Kenyon and Wooster Colleges, and Ohio Wesleyan University, ending the season at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, also hosted by Kenyon College.