Story by Keith Jaco
Staff writer
rjaco@murraystate.edu
Murray State men’s golf swung into the spring season with a 12th-place finish in the Loyola Intercollegiate at Palm Valley Golf Club in Goodyear, Arizona, Feb. 23-25.
The University of Alabama-Birmingham shot a tournament-low 271 in the third round en route to a comfortable first place finish at 18 under par.
The Racer’s 12th-place finish in the Loyola Intercollegiate is an improvement to their 18th-place finish a year ago.
The Racers fell behind early in the tournament, shooting a first-round team score of 301 and a second-round score of 302, finding themselves in 16th out of 17 teams after day one.
Murray State managed to settle in and calm its nerves with a third-round score of 282, moving the team up four spots on the leaderboard to a 12th-place finish.
Senior Gabe Wheeler, from Sikeston, Missouri, led the way for the Racers, shooting 75-74-68?217, moving up 27 spots and finishing tied for 17th place. Junior Austin Knight, from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, earned a share of 33rd place with three-round scores of 75-75-70?220.
Junior Avery Edwards, from Paducah, Kentucky, saw his first spring action for the Racers since an injury cut his spring season short a year ago. Edwards bounced back well, shooting three-round scores of 72-79-72?223, earning a share 57th place.
Head Coach Eddie Hunt was happy with his team’s ability to turn things around in the third round.
“The way the tournament ended up, I was real pleased,” Hunt said. “They showed some real promise, didn’t quit and came back and really played well on the last day.”
Hunt stressed the importance of consistency moving forward following his team’s shaky start in their first tournament of the spring.
“Consistency is our biggest problem,” Hunt said. “You shouldn’t have a 20-stroke swing on two rounds of golf. But I think we have the right five players and everyone is healthy so I’m looking forward to this spring, that tournament gave us a shot to really get started for the spring season.”
The Racers will be back in action on March 17, as they travel to Cookeville, Tennessee, to participate in the Bobby Nichols Invitational at Sevierville Golf Club.