 vs.  |
|
Perfect conditions throw SMU for loop at conference tournament
COON RAPIDS, Minn. — For the first time this season, Mother Nature decided to cut the Saint Mary's University men's golf team some slack.
No rain.
No wind.
No bitter cold.
All-in-all, weather conditions were picture-perfect for the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships.
Picture-perfect, however, wasn't the way coach Tom Farren would describe his team's performance.
Playing in shirtsleeves for the first time this fall, the Cardinals struggled to a season-worst 326 team score in Friday's opening round of the three-day conference tournament at Bunker Hills Golf Course.
"I don't know what to say, everything about the day was perfect — except the way we played," said Farren, whose team managed just two rounds in the 70s — a 78 by Tony Hynes (Lino Lakes, Minn.) and a 79 by Josh Wendel (Rosemount, Minn.). "We just did not play well at all, plain and simple."
Fortunately for the Cardinals, the MIAC was a three-day event, giving SMU two days to improve on that disappointing start.
Unfortunately, it was more of the same in Day 2 — only worse — as the Cardinals went from a 326 first-day score to a 330 second-day effort, as SMU remained ninth in the 10-team tournament.
"We definitely picked the wrong time to have our games go in the tank," said Farren, who got only one second-day score in the 70s — a 79 by Jesse Polk (Hastings, Minn.) — while Hynes ballooned to an 84 and Wendel struggled to an 85. "It's just been a struggle all the way around."
SMU did manage to put it all together in Monday's final round, getting a 76 from Polk, a 77 from Wendel and a 78 from Rob Klein (Lake Bluff, Ill.) en route to a 312, but it was too little, too late as SMU remained ninth in the 10-team field.
Polk finished the tournament with a team-best 235 (80-79-76), while Wendel was six shots back at 241 (79-85-77). Hynes chipped in a 243 (78-84-81). followed by Scott Savage (Mahtomedi, Minn. / 89-82-80—251) and Klein (90-85-78—253).
"We played a lot better (on Monday), but we needed three days like that, not just one," said Farren, whose team finished with a 967 team total. "I told the guys afterwards that I was proud of them for not packing it in after those first two rounds. It was nice to end the tournament on a good note — it's just too bad we couldn't have done that from the get-go."