West Chester University’s Men’s Golf team keeps on rolling with another third place finish. Their latest tournament was the Glade Springs Intercollegiate Championships, which consisted of three round matches at the Woodhaven Golf Course in Daniels, West Virginia. This par 72 course is a challenging course, but the Golden Rams would have none of that.
Junior Austin Mann once again stepped up his game, as a runner up in the individual scoring, with a three match total of 224. Mann shot even par on the first day with a score of 72. His scores would get higher as the matches progressed with scores of 74 and 78. Along with Mann, senior Michael Ashcraft also stepped up with a 54 hole score of 236. Ashcraft posted consistent scores of 79, 79, and 78, which was second amongst Rams golfers.
For the second week in row a freshman made their college golf debut. Drew Patterson turned in a three round score of 240 in his first colligate tournament. Patterson posted rounds of 77, 81, and 82, which was only a few spots behind his senior teammate, Ashcraft. Other notable West Chester golfers in the tournament were Cory Smith and Eric Slawter. Smith turned in an overall score of 244. His round scores were consistent as they were 81, 80, and 83. Slawter turned in a 54 hole score of 245. His scores, however, progressively became better with rounds of 86, 81, and 78.
Mann was edged out by just two strokes. Matt Kempa, who had an overall score of 222, was the individual winner from IUP. This is the second time in as many weeks that Kempa has edged out a WCU golfer for individual honors. As a team the Rams combined for a score of 938. They were just behind IUP and Millersville. IUP’s score was 907 and Millersville totaled 934. West Chester has the right pieces to put together many winning tournaments this season. Consistency will be a key for this team in their pursuit of a tournament victory. The squad will have this weekend off, but will compete in the Mercyhurst Invitational on September 29th and the 30th.
Following the Mercyhurst Invitational will be the California the Challenge in the second week of October. The following week they will be participating in the Howard “Bud” Ewell Invitational. Then they will be already in the PSAC championships at the end of October. With the sesason coming to a close in just a month, and the team performing well, do not miss out on seeing the men’s golf team compete in their final matches of the season.
Michael Murphey is a first-year student majoring in communication studies. He can be reached at MM802071@wcupa.edu
Thu. Apr 25th, 2024
