At the Division II Midwest Regional tournament in Chicago, Illinois, the Charger golf team battled 30 mph winds to finish tied for 13th out of 32 teams.
The team tied the school record with a team score of 294 on the first day of play and finished with a tournament total 622.
Freshman Liam Purslowe led the team with a 3-under par 69 on the first day of play. Purslowe finished with a tournament total 150 and a tied for 14th place. Sophomore Logan Kauffman shot par for the course, 72, on day one. Freshman Joel Pietila, Peter Beneteau, and Henry Hitt finished with scores of 156, 158, and 170, respectively. Kauffman finished with a 160.
In contrast to the fall season of 2014, last weekend’s tournament was the first time weather has significantly affected play for the Chargers.
“They have had perfect days everyday until Tuesday,” head coach Nathan Gilchrist said. “Day one was 75 and sunny with no wind. But Tuesday was 60 degrees with constant winds of 25 mph and rain on and off.”
The conditions affected the entire field of players. Gilchrist estimates that the field average was in the 80s on the second day of play. Only 33 of 160 players broke 80 on Tuesday and only a single player finished under par at the end of the tournament.
Gilchrist said that team played patiently and “grinded it out, knowing that there wasn’t going to be good scores. An 80 would be really good.”
Beneteau said the sideways rain made the course “almost unplayable.”
“Some of the holes were straight into the wind and balls were moving on the green,” he said.
On Tuesday, Beneteau’s 18th hole was 590 yards and into the wind. For his first three shots on the hole, he used driver, driver, nine iron “just to get it up there.”
“I’ve never played in conditions like that. You just had to hit it really solid,” he said.
Pietila described similar situations during his round.
“You had to put complete energy into every shot in order to hit something respectable,” he said. “If you made par, you were happy.”
The playing conditions ultimately extended the round to almost six hours of play.
“It was exhausting,” Pietila said. “We sprawled out on the club house couches when we finally finished.”
Pietila’s favorite shot of the tournament came during the first round, on his 18th hole.
“I putted for birdie to shoot 75, which gave me momentum and bumped the team up a spot. And it was fun to make a putt with the whole team watching,” he said.
The Kyle Ryman Memorial Invitational is next up for the Chargers on Oct. 3 and 4 and hosted by Tiffin University. It’s followed by a two-week break.
In the meantime, both Pietila and Beneteau note how much they enjoy playing on the team.
“I love every second of college golf,” Beneteau said.
“We’re super excited about what the team can do,” Pietila said. “In the spring, we’re going to surprise some people.”
