The Hillsdale men’s golf team placed 15th out of 18 teams in its trip to Dade City, Florida for the St. Leo Invitational on Monday and Tuesday.

The two-day tournament was the team’s first outing of its spring season after a ​​sixth place finish at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational in October.

“We hit the ball well, and we do a lot of things well,” head coach Mike Thompson said. “But our putting and short game just continues to hold us back. We really need to focus on that until it becomes a strength.”

Senior Gerry Jones Jr. led the Chargers in the tournament, shooting 74 in all three rounds.

“My driver and even my iron game were pretty solid for the most part,” Jones said. “But my wedges and putting – the other half of my game – was severely lacking.”

Jones finished tied for 72nd in the tournament. His final 18 holes got off to a rough start, finishing the first nine four-over par, but three birdies in the last nine holes brought him back to two-over in his third round.

Jones said the team’s biggest weakness is putting.

“Putting is coming down to three parts,” Jones said. “It’s not a matter of us making birdie putts necessarily, but we’re hitting shots onto the green where we’re supposed to, playing a safe shot.”

Junior Will Verduzco shot 75-76-81=232, finishing tied for 80th. He said the team needs to change its mindset going into the next tournament.

“I think we have to keep putting in the reps, just going in with a better mindset,” Verduzco said. “I think we’re all kind of unsure of ourselves going into the tournament. That’s never going to lead to any success.”

Thompson said it was difficult to play against Florida teams who can practice outdoors all year round.

“We don’t have as many reps as some of the other schools but I think it’s a great opportunity for us,” Thompson said. “It’s not ideal, frankly, not having all the rounds and practice outside, but we can’t use that as an excuse.”

The Chargers’ performance will have little effect on their position in the G-MAC. The only other G-MAC team at the tournament, Kentucky Wesleyan, placed 13th.

“It’s definitely not the end of the world in terms of the whole conference and regional rankings,” Jones said. “Basically all those teams down in Florida weren’t in our region at all. When we went down to Tampa, we all told ourselves to use this tournament as kind of a baseline of seeing where there are things we need to work on.”

The Chargers will have three-and-a-half weeks off before heading to the SVSU Spring Intercollegiate in Lexington, Kentucky March 18-19.