Back-To-Back GLIAC Champions Celebrate Success At 33rd Annual Football Golf Outing

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Big Rapids, Mich. - The back-to-back Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Champion Ferris State University football program, which is also the preseason top 20 team in the country heading into the 2016 season, welcomed back a large contingent of family, friends, supporters and alumni for the 33rd annual Bulldog Football Golf Outing at Clear Lake Golf Club in June.

The event featured another strong turnout with more than 100 total golfers on hand and it came on the heels of recent strong turnouts for the annual fundraising event. 

A contingent of former players and alumni comepted in the four-person shotgun golf scramble, which is hosted by the FSU Gridiron Club in conjunction with the Bulldog Athletic Association (BAA) and serves as one of the Ferris State football program's primary fundraising events.

Those taking part in this year's event not only had an opportunity to play the 18-hole round, but were also treated to lunch prior to play, dinner after the event along with a banquet that featured raffle and auction prizes.  A postgame gathering took place at the alumni-owned Buffalo Wild Wings location in Big Rapids. 

One of the day's highlights came in the Player's Cup Division, where the quartet of alumni Bill Scheible, John Baylis, Steve Duchon and Mark Sarver won their 10th Player's Cup Trophy awarded annually to the top team consisting of former Bulldog Football players.

The men's championship was won by the group of Marty Mohnke, who hit a hole-in-one during the round, along with Mike Mohnke, Cam Rickert and Todd Rickert. The mixed winners included Ruth Hicks, Bill Taylor, Lauri Niskanen and Jim Niskanen.

Bulldog football head coach Tony Annese and his staff, along with a number of current student-athletes and returning starters, were on hand or competed throughout the event. Those who took part also had an opportunity to have their photo taken with hardware won by the Bulldogs over the past two years, including back-to-back GLIAC Championships and the Anchor-Bone Trophy.

"It was a tremendous day for the 33rd annual event and it was outstanding again to so many former players came back to be part of the Bulldog family and share in our championship success," said Annese.  "The alumni and supporters involved are a huge reason for the success of the Ferris State football program and we thank them, along with our sponsors and the course, for all the support."

The Bulldogs, under two-time reigning GLIAC Coach of the Year Tony Annese, have posted the best overall record of all collegiate programs in the state of Michigan over the past four years and presently own a 25-game regular season unbeaten streak.

FSU will begin its 108th season of varsity competition this coming fall with its sights set on repeating as GLIAC Champions for the third-straight year and making a return trip to the NCAA Division II Playoffs yet again.

Ferris State is coming off another historic campaign as the Bulldogs recorded a second-straight unbeaten regular-season en route to claiming a second consecutive GLIAC Championship in 2015. The Bulldogs also claimed the school's first NCAA Playoff win in 19 years and stretched their current regular-season win streak to 25-straight games.

Last fall, the Bulldog football squad finished 2015 with an 11-1 overall record for the second-straight year. Under Head Coach Tony Annese's direction, the Bulldogs also led the country with four Academic All-Americans and senior quarterback Jason Vander Laan claimed his second consecutive Harlon Hill Trophy as the nation's top NCAA Division II player. FSU was ranked among the nation's top 10 teams all season, including the school's highest ever national rankings at #1 in the D2Football.com poll along with #2 in the American Football Coaches Association rankings.

Since his arrival at Ferris State, Annese has turned the Bulldogs into a national power on the Division II level. The veteran coach has posted a 37-9 overall mark in four seasons at the FSU helm and has been the mastermind behind a Bulldog turnaround leading to 22 wins in the program's past 24 games overall. FSU has posted the GLIAC's best league record over the past four seasons (34-6) and the squad owns the top overall four-year record of all 21 collegiate programs in Michigan (37-9).

Overall, Annese has won 83% of his games as a head coach on the collegiate and prep levels and owns 262 wins to date, which is the most of any current GLIAC member head coach at all levels.

Ferris State, which will return upwards of 50 letterwinners for the 2016 campaign, opens the 2016 schedule this fall at home on Thursday, Sept. 1, at 7:30 p.m. (ET) against Ohio Dominican in Big Rapids. 

Below are winners from this year's golf outing:

Mixed Champs – Bill Taylor, Ruth Hicks, Jim Niskanen and Laurie Niskanen
Men's Champs – Martin Mohnke, Mike Mohnke, Cam Rickert and Todd Rickert
Players Cup – Class of 1976 – Steve Duchon, Mark Sarver, Bill Scheible, John Baylis