The spring season is underway for the Oakland University men’s and women’s golf teams. The men’s team just wrapped up play at the Ball State Cardinal Collegiate Tournament in Jasper, Ind., finishing in 13th place.

Sophomore Michael Coriasso led OU with a final round of 74 (+2) and finished the tournament tied for 39th place among individuals. Freshman Jakob Ziegler and sophomore Michael Marks were the only other Golden Grizzlies to shoot rounds in the 70s, both posting a 77 in the third round. Ziegler finished tied for 44th place with an overall score of 233, while Marks took 71st place with an overall score of 243.

Oakland opened the spring season on March 14, when both the men’s and women’s teams competed in the Jackrabbits Invitational in Primm, Nev.

Coriasso and Ziegler were the frontrunners for the Oakland men in that tournament as well, each shooting an even-par 72 on the last round to help the Golden Grizzlies surge out of last place and finish 10th of 12 teams with a team score of 914. Corissa finished the tournament with an overall score of 227 and Ziegler finished with a score of 231. As a team, the Grizzlies improved by 19 strokes on the final day of the tournament.

The performance was a welcomed sign for Ziegler, who is just now recovering from an emergency appendectomy prior to the school year and was not able to golf until a few days before the season began.

“He’s an incredible talent,” OU golf coach Brian Costello said in a statement prior to the season. “He hadn’t picked up a golf club until three days before first tournament. It took him a few tournaments to get comfortable with the way we do things here, but he’s worked really hard and I think he’s going to have a very good spring.”

The women’s team finished with a school record score of 924, earning them a ninth-place finish out of 16 teams. The score broke the previous record of 929 shot at the Mid-Continent Conference Championship in 2006.

Sophomore Liz Ecker shot a 76 (+4) to lead the Golden Grizzlies on the final day of the tournament. Austin McDermaid finished tied for eighth place with an overall score of 224 and Ecker finished in 27th place with a 229 score.

Oakland is typically among the top three women’s golf programs each year in the Summit League, but this season the Golden Grizzlies were picked to finish fourth by league coaches in the pre-season poll. The prediction didn’t sit well with the Golden Grizzlies.

“The girls felt that we were one of the top two teams in the conference,” Costello said. “But when that poll came out, the coaches felt that, for some reason, we were the fourth best team and I think that will prove to be a little bit of motivation.”

The women’s team will resume competition on Monday, April 5 at the Tina Barrett Longwood Invitational in Farmville, Va. Next up for the men’s team is the Adidas Hoosier Invitational, played at Indiana University beginning Saturday, April 3.