The Oswego State golf team overcame the challenge of Timber Banks Golf Course in Baldwinsville to lead the Empire 8 Conference Championship heading into the spring season.

For the first time since the 2006-2007 season, St. John Fisher is not the leading team after two rounds of play, thanks to strong play from the Lakers, five of which landed in the top 15 overall.

Head coach Mike Howard emphasized that the team has not won anything yet, and that the real focus is in the spring.

“We’re ahead in the fall portion, and that’s the message I pretty much gave to the team,” Howard said.

Oswego State had five of its six golfers in the top 15 for the fall portion. Corey Marshall, Ryan Fecco, Daniel Mort and Erik Schleicher were among the top golfers for the Lakers. But senior Sean Paul Owen finished first not only for Oswego State, but the entire tournament. Owen came in at plus-one for the entire weekend.

“It feels good obviously to bring home the individual,” Owen said. “The team’s more important, with that we really want to make it to the NCAAs.”

Owen has also been a key player during the entire season for the Lakers. Other than leading the team at the Empire 8, he was the team’s medalist at the St. John Fisher Invitational and the Hamilton College Invitational.

He was named the Empire 8 Men’s Golf Athlete of the Week for the week ending on Sept. 16. Howard said that his quality play has led to the entire team’s improved performance.

“We’ve got a quality golfer there. He’s capable of going under-par, he’s done that before in competition,” Howard said. “It’s certainly a load off my mind when he’s playing well to know that we’re going to have a pretty good score from our No. 1 man.”

The actual course for the tournament was challenging, Howard said. Between the heat and humidity, Oswego State had some challenging greens to manage. Howard also said the par-fives were a “thorn in their side.”

“My message to them was that we have to clean this up, so when we went there for the practice round, the guys decided the risk wasn’t worth the reward that you can possibly get with those par-fives going in two,” Howard said. “So, we did a tremendous job of cleaning that up from the week before. That was critical.”

That has not been the only advantage for Howard. There are 12 players on the roster this season. Howard called it a “really deep roster” with “12 really good golfers.” He has been able to use that to the team’s advantage to push players to be their best for the next match.

The tournament lead for the Empire 8 has been a big boost for the team, especially being right up there with St. John Fisher, Howard said.

“We’re excited the position we’re in, and we’re looking to finish the fall campaign on a high note, and looking forward to getting ready for the spring tournament,” Howard said.

Schleicher has also been a major factor for the team. He said his biggest improvement was his consistency. Owen had a specific part of his game.

“Really putting was something I tried to focus on this summer,” Owen said.

After the first-place finish, the Lakers, who are in the Empire 8 for the second season, have a lot more to look forward to during the spring. The winner of the Empire 8 Conference Championship gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Div. III Tournament.

Howard said there are a lot of added bonuses for the players, including earning conference honors, such as golfer of the year and different academic honors.

“[The NCAA’s are] primarily why I pushed the administration to get into this conference. Prior to this, we were just out there playing golf,” Howard said. “We didn’t really have anything to shoot for in the spring, other than playing at competitions that were on the schedule.”

For now, Oswego State has to focus on the Elmira College Invitational on Sept. 22. Owen is from the Elmira area, a Horseheads native himself.

“He wants to defend his title,” Howard said.

After that, the Lakers will have home course advantage by hosting their own invitational at the Oswego Country Club. Howard is looking toward the advantage, something he said “no other team has, except maybe baseball.”

“We have 11 teams, and it’s going to be a dogfight,” Howard said. “So, we have to be ready to play, for sure.”