The golf team finished midpack at the Ken Partridge Invitational in Noblesville, Indiana, as freshman Robert Thompson battled back from a rough first round to finish 36th individually.
“We had another tough first round that got us off to a bad start,” said head coach Matt Thompson. “The guys battled well after that. We will work hard the next ten days, and hopefully we can get off to a good start at G-MACs and put ourselves in a position to win.”
The Chargers tied for ninth out of 18 teams that competed at Purgatory Golf Club. Freshman Oliver Marshall played the best of all the Hillsdale golfers, shooting 74-71-75=220 and finishing 10th overall. Marshall also carded 38 pars, the second-most in the tournament.
“Personally, I felt like it was a solid tournament,” Marshall said. “It wasn’t anything crazy good. It wasn’t crazy bad. There’s some room for improvement, but I’m not super unhappy with how I played.”
Freshman Ryan O’Rourke shot 75-75-74=224, as the upperclassmen finished behind. Sophomore Max Burns carded 83-73-82=238 and senior Will Verduzco scored 83-81-80=244.
Purgatory Golf Club is known for its tough conditions, including its wide open design that can leave players susceptible to high winds.
“The first round was definitely the toughest conditions-wise,” Marshall said. “It was super windy, and there was a little bit of rain, too. But I had a pretty good round going for most of it and just had a couple of bad holes at the end of it that made me shoot 74, but I feel like I probably played the best that day.”
Thompson shot 85 in the first round and carded 70 and 71 in his last two rounds.
“The whole spring’s been kind of rough,” he said.
Thompson tied for 80th out of 90 golfers in the Chargers’ last tournament, the Findlay Spring Invite in Richmond, Kentucky. After some practice strokes following a rough first-round performance, Thompson turned his game around.
“On the second day, I kind of just went back to trying to swing and not really think about anything,” Thompson said. “I did that all of the second and third rounds — didn’t really think, just kind of whacking the ball around. It worked pretty well. And then I started making a lot of pots. I wasn’t really putting well before.”
Thompson said a mindset shift pulled him out of the slump.
“I think before I was just too tense because I was thinking about too many things,” Thompson said. “I was making tense swings, the ball was kind of going everywhere. So when I loosened up, I just felt like I could play well again.”
The team will play in the G-MAC Championships on April 22-24 in Owensboro, Kentucky. To qualify for the DII Central/Midwest Super Regional, the Chargers must finish in at least the top three teams.
Thompson said the team will probably need to come in first to secure a spot.
“We all know we have to win conferences to go to regionals,” Thompson said.
Verduzco said the team has to turn its focus away from the past few tournaments and to the conference competition.
“All we can do is focus on our preparation this next week and a half and let the chips fall as they may at conferences,” Verduzco said.