By John Bray | Staff Writer

Coming off a ninth-place finish out of 14 teams in the TaylorMade/adidas Intercollegiate over Spring Break, the Lords golf team returned to Ohio poised as a threat to compete for the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) championship.

The Lords traveled to the Muskingum University Invitational in New Concord, where they were greeted with rain and wind. The unfavorable conditions weren’t enough to slow down the Lords, who shot 300 as a team and finished the day in second place. Alex Blickle ’15 led the team with an impressive score of 70 that the day.

Wind and rain picked up and plagued the Lords during their second round, raising their score by 23 strokes, for a team score of 323. Blickle once again led the Lords with a score of 76.

Individually, Blickle finished second in the tournament, and Jake Fait ’16 tied for 10th out of 47 golfers. Blickle played well enough to earn him the NCAC Golfer of the Week.

Head Coach Grant Wallace praised Blickle’s strong performance.

“Alex has played very solid all year, and I think his best rounds are still ahead this season,” Wallace said. “He played well all weekend and is very deserving of his NCAC player of the week recognition.”

Wallace was also proud of how the team overall competed this past weekend. One obstacle they had to overcome was playing outside. Since returning to school, they have been forced to only hit indoors off mats, which is a very different feel than hitting on a course.

“It was a day of mental toughness,” Wallace said. “I am proud of them for competing all day, even if the conditions were not ideal.”

Next weekend the Lords travel to Delaware, Ohio to compete in the Strimer Memorial Invitational at Oak Haven Golf Club. Wallace is excited for the challenges this upcoming invitational poses.

“There are a few NCAC schools there, so it will be a preview of where we are compared to the other teams in the conference,” Wallace said. “It should be a strong field with Wittenberg [No. 4] and Otterbein [No. 40] in the field.”