The golf team finished 15th of 16 teams in its first tournament of the spring season last week at the Rebath Snowman Getaway, hosted by Washington State, at Palm Valley Golf Club in Goodyear, Ariz.
The Bonnies finished the tournament with a score of 963 (99 over-par). South Dakota finished last after shooting 986 (122 over-par). Missouri-Kansas City won the tournament with 877 (13 over-par).
Junior Greg Horvath led the Bonnies with a three-round total of 239, good enough for 78th place out of 93 golfers. Junior Brian McKenna finished close behind at 240, placing 79th.
Midterm break only gave coach John Powers two days to prepare his team for the tournament.
“We were a little rusty,” Powers said. “The first and third rounds went alright, but the second round wasn’t really what we were looking for. There are some simple things that need to be cleaned up.”
The Bonnies had the highest score through the second round with a 336. Winds gusted more than 20 miles per hour in Palm Valley.
“The weather conditions made it a lot harder to play on the course,”Powers said. “It’s more difficult to handle the conditions when you haven’t played competitively in a while.”
McKenna thought his team played well despite the low finish.
“It was really tough going out there and playing 36 holes competitively,” McKenna said. “It was a real grind.”
The team next heads to the Fireline Towson Invitational at Prospect Bay Country Club in Maryland March 30 April 1.
Towson will look to win the tournament after finishing in second last year, losing to Kent State by 25 strokes.
McKenna said he expects his team’s play to improve at Prospect Bay.
“Our biggest issue was giving up shots that we normally don’t give up in other tournaments,” McKenna said. “We are going to be out practicing a lot more and hope to finish in the top three or five.”
moreyja10@bonaventure.edu
