The Puget Sound men’s golf team performed strongly during the first tournament of the season at the Whitman Invitational on Sept. 29 and 30. The Loggers finished second in the tournament, held at the Wine Valley Golf Course.
Sophomore Adam Bean (Portland, Ore.) was 2-under for the tournament, leading the Loggers to a strong finish during their first outing of the season. Between the first and second days of the tournament, Bean saw tremendous improvement.
Bean was 3-under on the second day, finishing with a 142 (-2) for the tournament after firing a 73 (+1) on the first day. He finished third as an individual, only four shots behind medalist Lyle Rudnicki of Whitworth.
However, as a team the Loggers showed promise on the course. The team was consistent, being 5-over on both days of the tournament. The first day left the Loggers in third place with a team score of 293. However, when Pacific Lutheran shot a 299 (+11) on the second day, after shooting a 292, the Loggers were able to take the second place slot.
The rest of the team held their own individually as well. Junior Derek Wilson (Bellevue, Wash.) finished sixth for the Loggers and was 1-under for the tournament.
Junior Matt Kitto (Lake Oswego, Ore.) finished 15th with a 149 (+5). After shooting a 74 (+3) on Sunday, junior Quentin Morse (Salt Lake City, Utah) shot an 82 on Monday. Freshman Karsten Sladky began his college golfing career with an 81 on Sunday.
The Loggers will be back on the links on Oct. 14-15 for the PLU Invitational, which is to be held at Chambers Bay.
The women’s golf team also stirred up the course this past week as they hit the links for the first time in Spokane, Wash. at the Whitworth Invitational. The Loggers came in seventh and were led by junior Ev Grier (Port Angeles, Wash.), who finished 32nd individually.
Grier shot a 197 to lead the team. Junior Melissa Merrigan (Happy Valley, Ore.) followed close behind by just two strokes. Sophomore Molly Nelson and sophomore Madison Cox (Kirkland, Wash.) finished out the scoring and finished 38th and 40th, respectively.
The women’s team will not be back on the course until Oct. 27-28 for the NWC Fall Classic.
