Simon Elfrink
Contributing writer
On Tuesday, Oct. 1, the Murray State men’s golf team came home in third place after three days of play at the Skyhawk Classic at UTM.
Sophomore Dalton Bagwell stole the show, tying for first place at the end of the third round of play. Bagwell shot a line of -71-71-72=214, the lowest total of any golfer in the competition. Mirroring Bagwell’s final score was Butler University’s Michael Cascino. To decide the official first place finisher, the two went into a sudden death playoff on the first hole of the course. Although Cascino won the playoff, Bagwell’s performance definitely paid off for the Racers.
Head Coach Eddie Hunt was ecstatic with Bagwell’s performance.
“He played really solid,” Hunt said. “I was really proud of Dalton. If we would have had anybody else step up, we would have been in the middle of it.”
Hunt was frustrated that his team was unable to pull away with the results he was confident they were capable of.
“We should’ve finished no worse than second,” Hunt said. “We played really good the first two. We never can finish the rounds.”
In the first round, the Racers finished shooting 291 overall. UT-Martin was the only team to outplay them, shooting four shots below Murray State. The second round yielded similar results, but Butler University jumped ahead, scoring 282 to Murray State’s 289.
The other Racers couldn’t ride Bagwell’s performance to the first place spot as they would have liked, but they were able to put up some pretty impressive numbers in their own right. Senior Avery Edwards came in 10th place, shooting 218 overall. Senior Austin Knight was not far behind, placing 18th and shooting 223. Junior Connor Coombs was only one shot behind with 224, placing 23rd overall. Freshman Walker Beck also made the top 50, placing 47th and shooting 234.
Despite the final result not being ideal, Hunt was able to salvage the tournament by admitting he saw a lot of improvement in players like sophomore James Boone, who played for the Murray State “B” and shot an impressive 223, tying for 18th place.
“I think James Boone played well,” Hunt said. “I think the next tournament he’ll get moved into the starting lineup.”
The Racers look to get some practice over the next two weeks before heading Austin Peay University on Monday, Oct. 14, to compete in the Austin Peay Intercollegiate. Hunt sees the upcoming tournament as a good way to measure his team against some other schools within the conference.
