Sports
Men’s Golf Caps Fall Season with 11th Place Finish
By: Colin Hanner
Posted on:
On Monday and Tuesday, the Bobcats hit the links in Kettering, Ohio at NCR South for the University of Dayton Fall Invitational. The two-day event hosted 18 teams and Ohio finished in a tie for 11th, tying with IUPUI and beating out MAC foe Bowling Green State by two strokes.
Senior Byron Firestone, who withdrew after an opening-round 72 at last week’s Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational, fired a first-round 77, followed by a one-over 71 the final round, placing him in a tie for 19th in a field of 100 golfers. Fellow senior Michael Lamping shot consistent scores of 76 and 77, respectively, to place in a tie for 41st. Finishing out for the Bobcats was Brad Burgess with a two-round total of 155 (T-54), Connor Coldwater with a 158 (T-69), and Brad Lucas with 160 (T-81).
Lamping commented on the toughness of the course.
“NCR is a championship golf course and demands well-played shots, as well as good putting to shoot a good number,” he said.
After posting a team first-round score of 302, the Bobcats were seventh after the first day of play. Yet, Ohio struggled in the second round, where three of the five golfers shot worse than the first round; Burgess and Lucas both shot in the 80’s on day two.
Bowling Green finished 13th as the only other MAC opponent in the tournament. The Bobcats also beat out University of Evansville, Owens Community College, Butler University, Robert Morris University, and Chicago State University. Oakland University came in first with a team two-day total of 578, beating out second place Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne by 10 shots. Oakland’s Nick Cunningham won the tournament with a 4-under 67 in the first round and an even-par 71 in the second round.
The Dayton Fall Invitational wraps up the fall season for the Bobcats. Plagued by mediocre play, Lamping suggests that the fall was upsetting as a whole for the team.
“Overall this fall was pretty disappointing,” said Lamping. “We’re going to analyze our play for the fall, identify areas we are losing strokes to the field in, and regroup for the spring season.”
The Bobcats will start play again early next year.