Simon Elfrink
Staff Writer
Murray State men’s golf placed seventh out of 10 competing universities at the Gulf Coast Intercollegiate in Diamondhead, Mississippi.
By the end of play on Monday, March 3, the Racers were on the tail end of the rankings having shot an overall 901 after three rounds of play.
Senior Austin Knight carried the Racers throughout the tournament, placing ninth overall out of 56 golfers. Knight’s modest starting score of 78 after the first round of play was put to shame after he shot under the par of 72 with a 71 on the second round and 69 on the final round of play.
After seeing Knight have a mediocre fall season, Head Coach Eddie Hunt was glad to see his team leader bounce back to an optimal spring start.
“Austin was a bright spot,” Hunt said “He’s making a good run for the All-OVC team, and I think he’s got a real good shot at it. He’s been the number one player really for all four years.”
While the final score didn’t yield the turnout the Racers would have liked, Hunt found a positive takeaway in the last
“I saw some improvement,” Hunt said. “[It] was really encouraging. We showed that we can play around even par with some of the better teams and that’s what we wanted to do.”
Junior Connor Coombs placed 23rd after shooting 70-70-77. Sophomores Dalton Bagwell and James Boone placed 31st and 33rd, respectively. Bagwell scored 80-77-73 and Boone scored 78-79-74. Senior Avery Edwards rounded out the scoring for the Racers by shooting 78-82-72 and placing 41st overall.
Going forward, Hunt and the Racers want to be more consistent. Hunt said poor starts have been keeping the Racers out of competitive tournaments all spring, and he made it a point to his team that even though the last rounds have been fruitful, strong starts will be imperative in the coming tournaments.
The Racers look to practice and improve over Spring Break before they get back in action on March 22 at the Golden Horseshoe Intercollegiate in Williamsburg, Virginia.