| 04.28.07 - The
Foresters matched their best effort in a NAIA Region VIII Tournament
with their fourth place finish at Angel's Crossing Golf Club in
Vicksburg, Michigan. After playing 36 holes on Friday, HU was tied for
fourth with a score of 613 to earn a spot in the finals on Saturday.
Eight of the 12 teams made the cut.
"We knew going into
Saturday that we could end up anywhere from third to seventh place
because the scores were all so close," said Coach Green.
"Spencer Batt played a great first round with a two under par 70.
Also, Patrick Davis came up big by having two rounds in the 70's.
That was a big boost for our team which allowed our score to be so
low."
In the final round, the Foresters put four scores in the 70s to secure
the fourth place finish. Justin Imel led HU with a 73 and Batt,
Ryan Bonner and Jeff McVicker each shot a 76 for a team score of 301.
Batt finished the competition with a team-leading 224 (70, 78, 76) to
earn NAIA All-Region honors. Bonner (79,74, 76) and Imel (80,
76, 73) both finished with a 229. Davis had a 236 (77, 79, 80)
for the tournament and McVicker finished with a 246 (81, 89, 76).
"Jeff bounced back from Friday's rounds to play an amazing 18 holes on
Saturday," said Coach Green. "I am very proud of the guys for
finishing fourth at Regionals. I know the guys are a little
disappointed because they expect more from themselves, but we are a
very young team."
Marian won the Region
VIII Championship with a score of 891 followed by Indiana Wesleyan
(898), Bethel (909), HU (914), Cornerstone and Davenport (916), Spring
Arbor (926), Aquinas (932) and the four teams that missed the cut
including Madonna (626), Taylor (634), Siena Heights (644) and
Concordia (728). Marian's Stephen Ford was the tournament
medalist with his score of 212.
"This shows how competitive golf is in our conference with the top
four teams coming from the MCC," said Coach Green. "I expect the team
to learn from this experience and continue to improve. I think it's
safe to say that we turned some heads this weekend, and people are
starting to take notice of our golf program."
The Foresters conclude their season with a 52-41-3
record. |
