By John Bray
Last weekends Muskingum Spring Invitational took the mens golf team on an emotional roller coaster.
The first round of competition started with the Lords climbing the much-anticipated first hill. Nerves and excitement filled the Lords as the round began. As a team, the Lords scored a 299, one shot over the programs record for a single round.
This score left them in second place at the end of the day, trailing Denison University by only four shots.
A great start by any means, and the Lords were fielding a young team first years and one sophomore, Alex Blickle. Blickle led all golfers with a score of 69, one under par, the second-lowest single-round score in program history.
Alex was on his game that day, Head Coach Grant Wallace said. He didnt miss many shots and his putter and short game were superb.
In the second round, strong fairway drives, chip shots onto the green and excellent putting put the Lords in position to win the invitational.
Weve spent hours working on chipping and putting, which is paying off now, Wallace said.
After all golfers finished the round and added up their respective scores, it appeared as if the Lords would be heading home with something extra the programs first team victory after a long drought. Then the unexpected happened.
Not one, but two Lords were disqualified after they signed off on scorecards that showed lower scores than what they actually hit, and were disqualified. This left the Lords one golfer short of qualifying and ended the teams hopes of victory, continuing the drought.
To have two players get disqualified on signing incorrect scorecards is a hard way to lose when we had won the tournament, Wallace said.
At the end of each round, each golfer signs the scorecard that his competitor recorded, which is then turned in for official scoring. Apparently, the Lords had signed off on scorecards that were added wrong.
The silver lining behind the unfortunate outcome of the invitational could be the play of rookie Jason Cinti 16. Cinti competed against his teammates in order to participate in the invitational. This was the first time that he qualified for a team competition. Cinti proved that he earned his spot by hitting a 74 in the first round and a 79 in the second before he was disqualified.
Wallace had nothing but praise for Cinti. I expect to see Jason in many more tournaments during his collegiate career, he said. He doesnt let pressure or nerves get to him and he keeps a laid back attitude, which I think helps him stay mentally strong.
Even though the invitational did not end favorably, the Lords now know what they are capable of as a team and individually.
What happened last weekend does not take away from the individual performances each guy had, Wallace said. Jordan [Harlacher 16] and Jack [Tomashot 16] both bounced back from a rough first day to shoot a 71 and a 73 on Saturday. Those are season lows and they have confidence now that they can go low when needed.
After his hot start, Blickle maintained his strong play in the second round and finished with a combined score of 144, which tied him for second best out of 56 total golfers.
Jacob Fait 16 also had an impressive solo performance, finishing tied for fourth with a score of 146.
All of these feats are something to be proud of and are accomplishments that the Lords can build on during the remainder of their season.
This was a big step towards getting where we want to be, Blickle said. Teams know were for real now. More importantly, we will now go into tournaments with confidence and the expectation of doing really well.
The Lords hope to rebound when they travel to Delaware, Ohio this weekend to participate in the Ohio Wesleyan University Strimmer Memorial Invitational on April 13 and 14.
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