Hartford Hawk Invitational
Bearkats finish 4th at Hartford Tournament
9/20/2016 5:02:00 PM | Men's Golf
The Bearkat men's golfers had a 10-stroke improvement on their score Tuesday afternoon at the Hartford Hawk Invitational, finishing in fourth place in the 16-team event.
Because of bad weather conditions on Monday, the event was shortened to just 36 holes. The Bearkats fired a team score of 280, the second-best team round of the day, but managed to just gain two strokes on Cal Poly who won the event.
“We played really good. That is now two weeks in a row that we have had a really good final round,” said head coach Brandt Kieschnick. “That sets up well for us moving forward. We had a good team meeting last night and they made some adjustments and we did a good job putting the ball where we needed.”
Jake McCrory earned another top 10 finish, shooting a 2-under, 70 on Tuesday and finished in third overall. The junior from Deer Park finished three strokes off the lead.
“Last spring he really did a lot of good things to get ready and he started figuring things out,” Kieschnick said. “He knows how to approach a round and I think we are going to see some really good things from him.”
Andrew Ertel also cracked into the top 10 with a 69 on Tuesday, moving him up to 7th overall for the tournament. The low round of the day for the Kats was shot by Mason Weld, who had a 68, moving him from 64th place heading into the day to a tie for 22nd.
“Mason, birdied his last four holes, and really could have birdied his last five,” Kieschnick said. “He is one of our strongest guys mentally. He hung in there all round and did a great job to make that last push.”
Also competing for the Kats were freshman Noah Steele (41st place, 5-over par) who shot a 73 and Jesse Massengale (65th, 9-over) who closed with a 76.
The Bearkats will be back in action on Oct. 10 when they take part in the Bayou City Collegiate Classic and Golfcrest Country Club in Pearland.
