Blake Sattler (2016) - Hall of Fame - University of Akron Athletics

Blake Sattler

Induction:
2016
Class:
2007

2003-07

There is no question that Blake Sattler was destined to have an outstanding UA career. Recruited in 2002 by head coach Steve Parker, UA’s first full-time golf coach, Sattler had been a four-time, first team East Central Ohio League choice and a three-time ECOL’s Player of the Year while at New Philadelphia High School.

His UA career speaks for itself. By the time he had finished his four seasons in 2007, Sattler had broken 13 school golf records, nine of which he currently still owns, and earned Mid-American Conference honors three times.

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He began immediately contributing as a freshman in 2002-03, competing in all 12 tournaments to average 75.8 strokes in 13 rounds in the fall and 76.8 in 21 rounds in the spring. That spring he earned his first Top 20 finish of his career at the Kent State First Energy Intercollegiate with score of 220 (74-73-73). That summer Sattler qualified for the U.S. Amateur by sinking a 30-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole in sectional qualifying at Mound Builders Country Club in Newark, Ohio, defeating three other players to claim the final qualifying spot.

In the fall season as a sophomore, Sattler had a team-leading 73.2 average while posting team-best rounds in three of five tournaments. He collected the first of his four record-breaking career victories. That first win came in Lincoln, Neb., at the Fairway Invitational when he shot a career low 69 and a 1-under 141 score to tie with Tyrone Van Aswegan of Oklahoma City University. Sattler continued to play well in the spring by firing the best Zip scores in four of seven tournaments while averaging 75.2. A 30th-place in the MAC Championship earned him second-team All-Conference honors which he repeated in 2006-07.

Sattler enjoyed his best performances as a junior when he established seven new UA records. In the fall, he led the Zips with a 75.0 average over five tournaments in which he recorded one Top 20 finish at the Northern Intercollegiate in Champaign, Ill., and was UA’s top finisher in two events. In the spring, six of Sattler’s records fell when he won the Marshall Invitational with an 11-under par score of 202 by firing rounds of 69-68-65. The 65 matched the all-time UA low score previously shot by 1985 UA Hall of Famer Tim Edwards in 1961. The other records were lowest round under par: 6-under, lowest 36-hole under par: 9-under, the lowest 36-hole aggregate: 133, lowest 54-hole total: 11-under and the lowest aggregate: 202. Sattler compiled a team-best and career-best 71.9 average in 22 rounds and go onto finish seventh with a three-under 285 score, lowest ever by a UA player, in the MAC Championship to earn first-team All-MAC accolades. His performance paced UA to a second place and its highest all-time finish in the MAC.

Sattler missed the 2005-06 season with an injury, but returned the following year for another banner campaign. He earned two more tournament victories, posting a six under 204 at The McLaughlin in Bethpage, N.Y., and an all-time UA record of a 13-under par 200 at the Comfort Inn Collegiate in Nashville, Tenn. Sattler had rounds of 70, 63, and 67 to establish two more all-time marks- low round (63) and low 36-hole aggregate (130). His 39 rounds of par or better during his career added another all-time record to his repertoire. His college career ended as his peers elected him the 2007 Earl Yestingsmeier Sportsman of the Year Award that recognized the player whom other players most enjoy playing, commands respect and esteem, and would consider to be worthy of representing men’s intercollegiate golf to others.

Sattler, who was inducted into the New Philadelphia High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015, has since played professionally for nine years and has two victories, the 2013 Woodcreek Classic in Columbia, S.C., and the 2015 New Bern (NC) Classic.