Marshall gets coaching from Kelly during match: Courtesy: Findlay Athletic Department

The Hillsdale men’s golf team shot 871 and finished fifth out of 17 in the Doc Spragg Invitational at the Findlay Country Club in Findlay, Ohio, over the weekend. Junior Robert Thompson placed second individually. 

Although he was sick during the tournament, Thompson fell one stroke short of the win, shooting 72-66-74=212. 

“Honestly, I didn’t feel great coming into this tournament,” Thompson said. “I hit poorly in the practice round and had some kind of sickness during the tournament. Being sick sucked, it made me really tired especially on the 36-hole day.”

The tournament had some of the top teams in the region including the University of Findlay, the University of Missouri St. Louis, and Tiffin University.

“Tiffin has been playing well the last couple weeks so we wanted to go up against them again,” head coach Luke Kelly said. 

Missouri St. Louis and Findlay tied for the win shooting 859. Tiffin followed with 863 as a team.  

Junior Oliver Marshall also had a strong individual performance, finishing with a score of 72-74-70=216.

“I felt good coming into the tournament especially after a good practice trip over fall break,” Marshall said. “I was somewhat happy with the team’s performance but definitely could have been better. We were very close to contending for the win as a team.” 

Sophomore Jackson Piacsek also contributed to the Chargers’ score, tying for 43rd after scoring a 223. He was followed by freshman John Cassiday in 49th with a 224 and junior Ryan O’Rourke in 70th with a 228. 

Freshman Parker Stalcup did not contribute to the team’s points, but had a strong showing tying for 34th with a 221. 

Kelly said the team was prepared coming into the tournament and ready to improve on its performance from last week.

“I thought we took some positive steps in some areas and took a step back in other areas,” Kelly said. “Always things we can improve on and constantly fighting complacency. The team performed nice overall, but struggled on par-3s and around the greens.”

The Chargers will finish their fall season next week in the Nemacolin Intercollegiate at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington Pennsylvania, Oct 20-21. Nine teams will join the field, including the University of Findlay, University of Tiffin, and the top-ranked Grand Valley State University.