Golf tied North Dakota State for sixth place in the Redhawk Intercollegiate at the Pittsburgh Field Club, shooting 33 over par, 885 in their last tournament before the Atlantic 10 Championship.
The Colonials found success in their first two rounds Monday, finishing the day just six strokes behind the eventual winner Marquette, but faltered in the final round Tuesday. With the regular season wrapped up, the five-man squad will look to the Atlantic 10 Championship for their first team victory after placing second twice during their spring slate.
The Colonials ended Monday’s first round in fourth place, seven strokes behind first-place Marquette University and nine shots over par. In their second round on Monday, the team shot a four-over 290, vaulting them to second place and positioning them for a run at their first tournament victory.
In Tuesday’s third and final round, the team descended into the middle of the field, scoring an 18 over, 302 in what proved a difficult day for all 14 competing teams, with only one squad finishing better than four strokes over par.
“A big piece of trying to bring a team together in an individual sport is getting guys that are going to fight through tough rounds because they care too much about the guys next to them to break down and give in,” Scheinost said. “And we’ve had that happen on multiple occasions this year.”
Senior Jakub Hrinda, who finished fourth in the tournament among individuals with a total score of 215, led the way for the Colonials with an individual tie for fourth place and a total score of 215 across three rounds of the tournament, firing a two under par score of 69 in the second round.
Freshman Manuel Barbachano trailed the senior with a score of 223. He previously led the Colonials to an eighth-place finish with a three-over-par performance in the SeattleU Redhawk Invitational earlier this month.
Head Coach Chuck Scheinost said that while the sport focuses on individual competitiveness, he has managed to create team camaraderie and combined passion for the game by creating a tight-knit community on the team, and encouraging his players to focus on what they can control.
“The big thing we have talked about is we have to get away from thinking winning is the ultimate definition of success, because it’s hard to win,” Scheinost said. “We can’t control someone going and shooting a great score, but we can control our process, we can control being ourselves.”
The Colonials have racked up multiple individual wins this spring, with Hrinda capturing a solo victory at the Ross Collegiate Classic last month and Barbachano tying for first at the Savannah Intercollegiate in February, but they have been unable to convert individual excellence into team wins. The team achieved their best team finish at the Golden Horseshoe Intercollegiate hosted by William & Mary College, when the team finished in second place on March 27 and 28.
The five-man squad will now shift their focus to the A-10 Championship, slated for April 28 in Orlando, Florida at the Reunion Resort.