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SEPT.
12 — Weather, Leafs' Play, Less Than Great At Grace
Goshen stumbles
as rain falls; shoots ugly 370 at beautiful Stonehenge |
Winona Lake, IN — According to
head coach Cory Furman, the Goshen College men’s golf team
was looking forward to playing the immaculate and challenging
Stonehenge
Golf
Course — host
of the Grace College Triangular Invitational — Tuesday morning.
Unfortunately, the day’s conditions and the squad’s
play made for a less-than-desirable experience.
“Today was a good day to do a lot of things,” Furman
said following the match, “but golf was not one of them.”
After a steady rain soaked the course and players for the majority
of the first nine holes, the skies parted somewhat, giving respite
only partly to the Leafs: Goshen could not regroup collectively,
firing a team score of 370 — 38 shots worse than it’s
season-opening 332 in the Goshen College Invitational at home Timber
Ridge Golf Course last Wednesday (click here for related article).
“We struggled a bit in the rain early, and for the most part,
our guys couldn’t find it within to get it going,” Furman
said. “There was a collective disappointment following the
final group’s conclusion. We must do better.”
The squad’s 370 was due to a mean score of 96.6 on the afternoon,
as senior Joel Kauffman led the way with an 87. That mark was well
off his medalist performance 78 at last season’s Grace invite,
(click here for article), though Furman was quick to point out
that the conditions were not comparable.
“Last season the weather was perfect, and today it was obviously
not,” Furman said. “That was evident in the tournament-wide
scores, as only two out of 18 golfers shot in the 70s. And they
were high 70s at that.”
The University of St. Francis posted those two low scores — the
Cougars’ Mike Domenico fired a 78 while Alex Fanning carded
a 79 — but failed to knock off the host Lancers for the team
championship. Grace, whose lowest golfer scored an 81, shot
a 329 to win the team title; St. Francis finished second with a
332 tally.
Things went poorly for Goshen on all fronts, however, as high numbers
appeared for multiple golfers on multiple holes. As a team, the
Leafs recorded 10 individual-hole scores of 8, 13 scores of 7 and
four 9s on the day.
“We were having trouble getting the ball around the course
today, which wasn’t really a concern last week,” Furman
said. “Several of our guys had the shanks, while others literally
lost a few shots after the club slipped out of their hands while
swinging during the heaviest periods of rain.”
Among those affected by the troubles was junior Chad Unrein, who
fired a 102, but carded just 23 putts on the afternoon.
“Both Chad and (freshman) Shawn (Martz, who carded a 107)
said that they have not played this poorly since they were in middle
school,” Furman
said. “While that’s true, they were also both itching
to fix what was wrong afterwards. That is a good attitude to have
when you don’t play well.”
Freshman Zach Wright continued to be a bright spot for the Leafs,
as his 88 was only dampered by a back-nine 48 after a front-side
40. Senior Tyler Roth posted the largest improvement
in Goshen College single-invitational golf history, shooting a
93 on Tuesday after firing a 128 at last year’s Grace College
Triangular, a betterment of 35 strokes.
“I think a big part of golf is one’s ability to scramble
and persevere,” Furman said. “After you make a mistake
or play a hole poorly, it’s often how well you clear your
mind and keep thinking about the present that determines how well
you’ll do. I’m anxious to see how we react to today’s
results. These next few days should tell us a lot about ourselves.”
Goshen will next participate at the Mid-Central Conference’s “Battle
At Blackthorn,” a preview of the MCC Championships to be
held at Blackthorn Golf Course in South Bend. The Leafs will travel
to that site Tuesday. Initial tee times are set for 11 a.m.
Final Results
Grace College Triangular
Stonehenge Golf Course
GRACE COLLEGE – (329) Whalen, 41/43
84; Laborde, 44/40 84; Nizter, 44/41 85; Blackburn, 38/43 81; Priode, 43/37 80;
Mills,
48/43
91
UNIVERSITY
OF ST. FRANCIS – (332) Potts, 45/41 86; Fanning,
34/45 79; Domenico, 40/38 78; Belville, 44/45 89 Overmyer, 54/48 102; Foster,
46/49
95
GOSHEN COLLEGE – (370)
Kauffman, 43/44 87; Wright, 40/48 88; Martz,
50/47 107; Unrein, 48/54 102; Troyer,
52/51 103; Roth, 46/47 93 |
  Senior
Tyler Roth
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