Men’s golf finishes 15th in season-opening tournament

Monday, September 3

Charleston, WV

Millersville University

Glade Springs Intercollegiate

Men’s golf finishes 15th in season-opening tournament

9/4/2018 5:33:00 PM | Men's Golf

Results

By: Ryan Small, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

Daniels, W.Va. – The Millersville University men's golf team opened its 2018 fall season with a 15th-place finish at the three-round Glade Springs Intercollegiate Invitational that concluded Tuesday. The tournament was played on two different golf courses at the Resort at Glade Springs.

The first day of competition included two rounds in which the Marauders totaled 620 (318 and 302) followed by a 323 on Tuesday.

HEAD COACH SCOTT VANDEGRIFT QUOTES
• "This tournament is always a hit or miss event. We have some newcomers on the squad and it showed. During the first round, I think we were tight but came back in the second round and moved up on the leaderboard. The third round was on the other golf course that a number of golfers have never played before. I am not discouraged by them because I saw how hard they were trying and working at being the best that they can be. We were just not playing well; that is golf."
• "[Matt Keim] certainly played the most consistent out of the five players. When he made his mistakes today, it was costly. It was not from a lack of effort, he swung till the end of the tournament. I am not worried about him at all about having a great fall. He is probably hitting the ball better than I have ever seen him hit it in his four years. So, I fully expect him to bounce right back and lead us at the Hal Hansen Invitational at Clarion."
• "Everyone was more familiar with the golf course after playing it for the second time. The most important thing I noticed is even though we did not play very well in the first round, there was no let down. I felt that was the most encouraging thing about this whole trip. After having a bad first round, you would not expect to see the team improve by 16 shots. You don't normally see that in tournaments. That just came from mental toughness and determination. It certainly was not that they gave up or they got discouraged. I think we scored better on the first five holes than we did at any other part of the course. That only comes up from maturity and playing to the end."

TOURNAMENT HIGHLIGHTS
• The Marauders were led by senior Matt Keim as he finished tied for 39th. He shot a 233 total as Keim carded a 78-75 on Monday and followed that performance with an 80 on Tuesday.
• Junior Brady Erb was Millersville's next best finisher as he shot 7-over 79 and 2-over 74 on the first day. Erb was a tale of extremes as he shot an 82 on Tuesday. Erb finished tied for 50th in the field of 116 players.
• Redshirt junior Matt Spak was next for Millersville as he shot 236, one stroke ahead of his teammate Erb. Spak opened his season with a 7-over 80 and a 76 to conclude the first day of action. He shot an 8-over 80 in third round for him to tie for 57th.
• Sophomore Ronnie Yanoski carded a 9-over 81 and then improved to a 77 on day one. Yanoski recorded a third round score of 12-over 84 and ended the event tied in 72nd.
• Redshirt senior Corey Betham was the fifth Marauder to participate in the tournament. Betham shot 84-80-81 for a total of 245.

NOTES
• Keim began his first round going on a 10-hole streak of pars.
• Erb led the team with the lowest 18-hole score--his second round of 2-over 74. Erb recorded six birdies throughout his three rounds--the most on the team.
• Spak finished his third round with a 3-over 39 front nine. Spak started off each round on a positive note totaling 4-over through all three first six holes.
• Two players broke their lowest 54-hole score at this event last season. Spak improved by two strokes and Keim by five.
• Arkansas Tech won the 2018 title with a total of 14-over par as a team and only 3-over on the final day. Shawn Tsai fired two 4-under 68's on day one of competition and finished with a 76 to claim the medalist honor. West Chester's Chris Warner finished the tournament in a tie for third while shooting a final round 68.

UP NEXT
• The Marauders return to action on Monday, Sept. 17 when they head to Treasure Lake Resort at the Silver Course in Dubois, Pa., to participate in the two-day Hal Hansen Invitational. The tournament kicks off Monday morning with tee times to be determined.