The men’s golf team hit the fairway Saturday to begin their Spring season, competing in the Mount St. Joseph Invitational. The Ravens placed 13th out of the 14 competing teams. Zach Whitaker, a sophomore on the team, found some silver linings in the performance.
“Considering the poor conditions this weekend,” he said, “we played some good golf at times. As a whole, we didn’t play very well, but I definitely think we are looking good for the rest of the season.”
AU posted a team score of 717. Micah Senft and Brodie Hough were the low Raven golfers. Both recorded a two-day total of 172, good for 53rd overall. Hough recorded an 84 on Sunday, the low round of the tournament for AU. Whitaker placed 74th, carding a 183.
“I wasn’t worried about our success for the first tournament,” Whitaker explained. “It was a good starting point for our team.” He touched on better play around the greens as a physical aspect of the game to improve upon. Improved mental strength over a full round will allow the team to play their best on all 18 holes and post lower scores moving forward.
Whitaker hopes these improvements will allow the Ravens to chase down a goal he has set for the season, and a lofty one at that. “My biggest goal for our team this season is to win conference,” he said. “It will be hard, but I always think a team needs to set their goals high.”
Whitaker believes the chase for a conference championship can begin this weekend.
AU will travel to Terre Haute on Saturday to play in the Rose-Hulman Invitational, set to tee off Saturday at 9 a.m.