Men’s golf opens up season with fifth-place finish
Stormy skies rolled in over the greens of the Tam O’Shanter Invitational in Greenville, Pa. Saturday, but for Waynesburg’s men’s golf team, it was just like any other day on the course.
“We always seem to run into bad weather in the spring,” said head coach Scott Venick.
Waynesburg finished with a total score of 358, only 54 strokes away from the lead. The Saint Vincent Bearcats won the invitational with 304 strokes. Presidents’ Athletic Conference foe Bethany finished the invitational 103 strokes off the lead. The host team Thiel had two teams representing it; the Blue team and the Gold team. The Blue team had a total team score of 318, while the Gold team finished 14 strokes ahead of the Jackets with 344.
The squad finished in fifth place out of the six-team field. Waynesburg’s top golfer, junior Tyler Tracy finished in 16th place out of the 29-man field at 14 strokes over par 86. The winner of the match was Derek Lingafelt of Saint Vincent who shot a 70, two strokes under par.
“I didn’t play that well,” said Tracy ” I hope to do better throughout the rest of the season.”
The cold and wet conditions that generally are associated with the first match of the spring season did not disappoint, which weren’t the idea conditions for the golfers.
“It was really wet and inconsistent, depending on which green,” Tracy said. “You have to adapt and try to do as best as you can.”
The next closest Jacket to fight off the cold and wet conditions was fellow junior Ryan Srnik, who shot a 16-over 88 and finished 20th.
“It was like hitting out of a swamp,” said Srnik. “The ground was ridiculously wet.”
Srnik started off well though, before a back-nine collapse.
“I was great through 10 holes,” Srnik said “Then I had a meltdown.”
After enduring winter’s harsh weather, Saturday’s Tam O’Shanter Invitational was the first match to be played on the course this season.
“There were broken branches and the grounds were soaking wet,” said junior Tyler Miller, who finished in 23rd place, with a score of 92 strokes.
After Saturday’s showing, the team hopes for better conditions in its next match at the McBride-Behringer-Allen “MBA” Tournament hosted by Grove City College Friday, with a shotgun start beginning at 1 p.m.
“We will only improve in the coming weeks,” said Venick “Everything is leading to the PAC Championships.
The women’s team will join the men Saturday and kick off its spring portion of the season Saturday at the Thiel College Invitational, which begins at noon.