Earlier this week, the Union University’s men’s golf team finished seventh out of a total of 10 teams in the University of Tennessee Martin Grover Page Classic at the Jackson Country Club, which is a three-round tournament played over two days.
A total of 36 holes were shot on Monday as they were met with a bitter chill in the air. With a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m., the temperature was only at 36°F with a wind chill of 26°F. The team finished their first round with 302 and their second round with 305, bringing their total to 607 and landing them in sixth place.
Tuesday, the team was faced with similar weather conditions as they began their third and final round of play. After 18 holes, the team finished with a total score of 923 and fell to seventh place. Because of the weather, there was high scoring across the board.
“The conditions this week were tough. It was cold and windy both days. The first day we played pretty well given the playing conditions, but we struggled to finish it off well the last day,” said junior cell and molecular biology major Braxton Rider.
The team entered this tournament fresh from their fourth place finish at the Mississippi College Classic, played last week, where they shot their best scores of the year with 290 and 288 in round one and two.
Although it may seem that the team did not finish with the same flying colors as the week before, many NCAA Division I teams were a part of this competition. Schools including, Tennessee Tech, UT Martin and Tennessee State all finished in front of them. However, the Bulldogs were able to finish ahead of Eastern Illinois University which is also Division I school with a larger program. Overall, the team had a very successful tournament.
Senior Jon Sain was the team’s leading finisher, tying for sixteenth place out of a total of 60 competitors. Over the course of the tournament, Sain finished with 227, shooting a 72, 74 and 81 in rounds one, two and three.
“I think that we are steadily showing signs of improvement. We are becoming more and more confident as a team after each tournament,” said Sain, a senior business management major said. “Even though we didn’t place as well as we had hoped, I think that we all learned something from this tournament that will help us to compete in our conference. We are moving forward with high expectations and are very excited about the next couple of tournaments.”
After some time of preparation and practice, the Bulldogs will head to Nashville next to participate in the Big Blue Invitational, hosted by Tennessee State University, at the Hermitage Golf Course on April 9-10.