by John Bray

Only three golf teams traveled this past weekend to Granville, Ohio for the Ted Barclay Spring Invitational, where the Lords finished in second place.

Host Denison University appeared confident and comfortable on their home course, besting the Lords by 12 strokes. The College of Wooster finished last of the three, falling behind the Lords by four strokes.

During the first round, Jordan Harlacher ’16 and Sadiq Jiwa ’18 paced the Lords with identical scores of 74 on the par-71 course. As a team, they recorded a combined score of 300, putting them in second.

The second round found most Lords shooting scores slightly higher than their first-round results, except Alex Blickle ’15, who improved his play and finished the round with a score of 72, compared to his first-round score of 76. Blickle was able to cut down on his mistakes, which put him in position for easier shots. His two-day score of 148 was good enough for a fifth-place individual finish.

While the Lords expressed disappointment with their second-place finish, ultimately they are looking at the bigger picture. With the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) championships on the horizon­ — only two weeks away — this past weekend was mostly about getting their minds right and polishing their play.

While walking down to the Kenyon Athletic Center to work on his putting, Blickle said, “We need to stay competitive through our off week with intrasquad matches and, more generally, making sure we spend the time to individually address the parts of our games that need to be dialed in. For me, that means finding a rhythm with my irons while making sure I don’t ignore the driver and putter, to keep them hot.”

Last year, the Lords finished in second place behind powerhouse Wittenberg University, awarding Kenyon hosting rights for the opening weekend of the championships at the Apple Valley Golf Course. Wittenberg will host the closing weekend.

This week’s preparation will be crucial for the Lords in their quest to win the NCAC Championships and qualify for the NCAA Championships. Both would be firsts for the program.