Alex Doss wrapped up an award-winning stay on the Northern Kentucky University golf team this spring with a solid showing at the Horizon League Championships on the El Campeon course at the Mission Inn Resort and Club in Florida. It’s summer in Kentucky and Doss is still collecting honors and setting records.
Last week, Doss was one of two NKU golfers among 110 student-athletes named to the 2023 Horizon League spring academic honor roll. Doss, from Campbellsville, and fellow Norse golfer Ryan Mitts helped NKU student-athletes compile a whopping 3.52 department-wide grade-point average, the highest in school history.
It’s the second semester in a row that NKU student-athletes combined to set a new program-best GPA while continuing a larger trend. This was the 12th straight semester NKU student-athletes finished with a GPA of 3.37 or higher and the 24th consecutive semester the athletics department GPA was 3.0 or better.
A total of 210 NKU spring season student-athletes had a GPA of 3.0 or higher, nearly 90% of the department. The Horizon League said in June that a total of 1,264 of its student-athletes made the spring honor roll, adding that Northern Kentucky was one of just six conference programs with at least 100 student-athletes named to the list.
It seems like a month hasn’t gone by without Doss collecting some kind of honor. In May, Doss was named to the 2023 Horizon League golf all-academic team. A graduate senior in 2022-23, he completed his bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance with a near-perfect 3.9 GPA and was working towards completing his master’s degree in business administration.
In April, Doss was named all-Horizon League second team after being NKU’s most consistent player. He averaged a round score of 72.91 for the season with six top-10 finishes featuring 12 rounds of par or better. The season highlight was a second-place finish at the Ernie Denham Classic at Bellarmine University.
At April’s Horizon League Championship, Doss paced the Norse with a 14th-place finish. He led NKU in par-3 scoring average at 3.08 (+1) and tied for first at the event in total overall pars through three rounds with 38.
Earlier in April, Doss was named Horizon League men’s golf athlete of the week following a second-place finish during the Norse win at the Ernie Denham Classic. Doss was in the lead after the first two rounds with scores of 68 and 67, which tied a 36-hole NKU record. He also led the Norse in total birdies through three rounds with 13.
Doss, a three-time All-American scholar athlete and two-time all-Horizon League selection, completed his Norse career with a 77.3 finish percentage, second highest for an NKU player in the NCAA Division I-era.
Other highlights for Doss as he enters a new phase of his golfing career include the 2021 Greater Cincinnati Tony Blom Metropolitan Amateur Championship, the 112th playing of the event. He’s had top-10 finishes at the Northern Kentucky Amateur (2022) and Kentucky Junior Amateur (2018). He was the first-day leader at the 2018 Kentucky Amateur, highlighting a 26th-place finish.
Doss is a golf legend at Campbellsville High School where he began playing as a fourth-grader and kept playing even while becoming a member of the school swim team beginning in the sixth grade. He led Campbellsville to several All “A” Classic regional championships including a second-place finish at the All “A” Classic state tournament, the best showing in program history. Doss is a former All “A” Classic regional and state champ.
Elsewhere around the links:
MARTIN LOW MAN AT MEGA PRO-AM: The four-man team of Jeremy Martin, Chase Caldwell, Michael Crabtree and Jason Cole tied for third at the Bill Long Mega Pro-Am at Wildwood Country Club. They carded a net score of 11-under-par 133, 10 shots behind the winners. Martin, a former NKU golfer, was low man of the group while posting low score of the day at 5-under-par 67 in the professional stroke-play division.
ELDRIDGE BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT: The group of Aaron Eldridge, Kevin Williams, Jim Botuchis and Kurt Kuhl tied for fifth at the Bill Long Mega Pro-Am with 10-under-par 134. Eldridge, assistant pro at Traditions Golf Club in Hebron, was low man in his group. He scored even-par 72 without benefit of a handicap, good for second place in the professional stroke-play division, five shots behind Martin.
MAHAN ROLLS A SEVENTH: Former Covington Catholic High School golfer Myles Mahan tied for seventh in the Mega Pro-Am professional stroke-play division at 2-over 74. Mahan, formerly at World of Golf in Florence, is head professional at Woodhaven Country Club.
OLDENDICK IN FORM AT SENIOR OPEN: Bruce Oldendick from Florence finished fourth overall at the 24th Kentucky Senior Open at Frankfort Country Club with a two-round score of even-par 144, three shots behind the winner, amateur Mike Brumfield (141). Oldendick, golf professional at Pendleton Hills, was tied for second after round one with a score of 71. He finished second among pros, one shot behind division winner Darren Wittenburg (143).