Junior Oliver Marshall with his award. Courtesy | Travecca Nazarene
The Hillsdale men’s golf team finished sixth out of 16 teams with a five-over 845 in a three-round invitational hosted by Trevecca Nazarene University in Old Hickory, Tennessee, March 30–31.
At the invitational, junior Oliver Marshall brought home his first collegiate medalist honor after scoring 6 under par, according to coach Luke Kelly.
“Oliver’s win was really positive and kind of put us out on a good note,” Kelly said. “He plotted his way around the course and made a few putts here and there and kept himself out of trouble. It’s the name of the game a lot of times, and he was able to do that.”
Sophomore Jackson Piacsek tied for fourth place after delivering a top-10 performance at the Findlay Spring Invite in Richmond, Kentucky, March 23–24.
The team’s sixth-place finish this week follows an overall team performance of seven out of 20 teams with a five-over 869 at last week’s invitational, which was the first tournament of the spring season.
Piacsek said difficult weather conditions at the Findlay Spring Invite led to a more difficult time playing in the tournament.
“We had some rough weather both on Monday and Tuesday morning, so it’s always going to be difficult competing in the conditions, and we’re hoping to improve on that in the coming weeks,” Piacsek said. “Being from the Midwest, it’s always tough to get your game back after the winter, but I feel like I did a good job of that this early spring.”
Senior Max Burns said while this was not the start to the spring season that the team had wanted, most of the players had avoidable errors.
“It was really cold and windy in the mornings, and the momentum shifts were a factor given we were all in the same group,” Burns said. “Next time I think we just need to play smarter golf, and the results will speak for themselves because we have a lot of talent on the team.”
Kelly said moving forward the team still wants to place fourth or fifth overall at a tournament.
“Improvement-wise, I would just say, sticking to their routines, letting the last shot be the last shot, not dwelling on the pass, moving forward, being patient, and taking what the course gives you are the kind of things that take us the next step forward,” Kelly said. “We have another event coming up next weekend, so hopefully it turns around for us a little bit.”
The team will compete at Ken Partridge Invitational at Noblesville, Indiana, April 6-7, before taking a break to prepare for the Great Midwest Athletic Conference championship in Florence, Indiana, April 20-22.
