Head coach Matt Thompson said the men’s golf team needs to stay patient after two frustrating performances this week.
“I think sometimes we might get a little bit too result-focused, rather than just taking it one step at a time and doing the best we can and making sound decisions,” Thompson said.
The A team traveled to Findlay, Ohio, to compete in the Doc Spragg Memorial Invitational, tying for ninth place out of 17 teams in the tournament. The Chargers shot a combined 875, finishing 11 over par and tying their best score at the event. Thompson said the team was let down by its performance.
“We’re a little disappointed after yesterday,” Thompson said. “I felt like we had a good opportunity to put ourselves in a good position and in our region. There’s a lot of golf left. By no means can we not continue to put ourselves in a good position.”
Hillsdale’s B team competed in Gaylord, Michigan, at the Lawrence Tech Blue Devils Classic, finishing sixth out of seven at the tournament. The tournament was a shorter 36-hole invitational, where the Chargers finished 32 over par for a combined score of 592. It was sophomore Peyton Houston’s first tournament in a Charger uniform after transferring from Wright State over the summer.
“We came into the tournament with some pretty high expectations,” Houston said. “We thought we had a good opportunity to win. We didn’t play as well as we wanted to, but it was a good experience playing my first tournament in a Charger uniform.”
The competition of a Beam is unusual for the Chargers. The players will normally compete against each other individually on the preceding Friday and Saturday to determine who will be in the lineup at the tournament the next week. Sophomore Filippo Reale said he was glad all ten of the players were able to compete this week.
“We’re all grateful to the coaches that we got to have two tournaments at the same time,” Reale said. “It meant everyone got to play, and everyone always wants to play. Going forward we’re all gonna be trying to get onto the Aeam, but it was good to get the practice.”
Senior Gerry Jones, Jr. said each player has a chance of being in the lineup each week.
“This is probably the most competitive I’ve seen the entire team,” Jones said. “All ten guys have a very good chance of qualifying for the top five for a tournament. If I have to sit out a week because one of my teammates is just playing really well, I’m all for that because I know in the long run for the team that’s going to help the team win.”
Senior Darragh Monaghan performed best out of all the Chargers, shooting a 69 in his second round and taking 18th place in the Findlay tournament. Junior Will Veduzco put up a 70 in his final round for a combined score of 217, finishing 25th in the same tournament.
After a break next weekend, the team will head to Tiffin, Ohio, for the Kyle Ryman Invitational Oct. 3-4. Senior Carson Stohler said the team is looking forward to the rest of the fall season.
“All of us are really going to try and contribute to finishing these last three tournaments strong,” Reale said.