[Men's Golf] The Bluejay Men See Improvement to Start Year Two
Salina, Kan. The Bluejay Men travelled to Salina Municipal to play in Bethany Colleges 3 round tournament that saw a small field of 9 teams, 4 of which were KCAC varsity teams. Out of the 9 teams the Bluejays finished 6th and 3rd in the KCAC. Bethany College finished First in their own tournament while Sterling College took second followed by Tabor and then Bethel.
It was a great first day for the Bluejays setting the school record since the restart shooting a 307 in the first round, only to break it again the second round with a 304. "It felt good to come out strong in our first tournament of the year, it really showed the hard work paying off" said coach Jamieson.
Marco Espinal (FR/Cedar Creek, Texas) stood out on day one quickly finding himself in the lead of the tournament with 3 birdies in the first 5 holes. However, a few bad holes brought him back to 2 over par 72 after round 1. Marco finished day 1 with another solid round of 75 putting him within striking distance for the final round on Tuesday. Day 2 didn't go so well for Marco shooting an 88 and 236 total which took him from top 15 to 28th place and the third best finish for Tabor College.
Zach Gibson (JR/Andover, Kan.) led the Bluejays with a three round total of (78,71,75) 224. "Zach, for the most part had a good swing coming into the tournament but struggled with the greens and the COVID-19 flagsticks" said Coach Jamieson. "Because of the situation we are in we could not pull the pins in Salina which was difficult because Zach hit a good 3 foot put that any other day would have dropped in the middle of the cup, however, the stick bounced the ball out leading to a frustrating bogey that took a few holes to overcome mentally." Despite what had happened in round 1 that led to a disappointing round for Zach with a 78, he turned it around and shot a 71 the next round with a quadruple bogey mixed in with 5 birdies on the round. Zach finished the tournament with a 17th place finish in a field of 48 players.
Logan Mathews (SO/Ada, Okla.) finished day 1 with a good round of 73, followed by a 78 in round 2. "Logan, like Zach is another player who has the talent to be a top 10 player in the KCAC" said coach Jamieson "This game is all about consistency and controlling the mental part of your game and Logan is close on both accounts." Logan finished the tournament with a total of 231 for 22nd and second on the team.
Brandon Flues (FR/Devine, Texas) finished fourth for the Bluejays with an (84,81,82) 247and 38th overall. While Zachary Aldrete (FR/Weslaco, Texas) rounded out the lineup finishing with an (85,79,85) 249 and 40th overall. Adrian Rivera (FR/Weslaco, Texas) also participated for the Bluejays as an individual finishing at (90,85,85) 260 and 44th overall.
The Bluejays will play next September 28 and 29 at Turkey Creek for another 3 round event.