2008 Woodie Awards
Golf 22nd at Marine Corps Invitational
By Randy Klins
Issue date: 4/8/05 Section: Sports
The Slippery Rock golf team placed 22nd out of 28 teams in the Marine Corps Invitational last weekend in Camp LeJeune, N.C.
Matt Walsh led the way for the Rock with rounds of 77 and 74 for a 151 two-day total. Chris Marron carded a 76 on the first day and a 77 on the second day to finish right behind his teammate with a 153.
Adam Scott led the second wave of SRU finishers with a total of 162 on rounds of 76 and 86. Burnie Smucker had rounds of 79 and 87 to finish with a two-day total of 166 and sophomore Adam Schuster tallied nearly identical scores as Smucker, ending with a 167.
As a team, SRU's top four golfers finished with a 633, 65 strokes behind first place finisher Johnson & Wales in the tournament that took place on April 2-3. The other four Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference schools in the tournaments finished ahead of the Rock, including a seventh place finish from IUP.
Coach Dave Crunkleton said he was pleased with the way Walsh finished after being injured in the fall season.
"He had a good tournament," Crunkleton said. "It's good to have him back."
Scott said he realized how important it is to have a healthy Walsh on the course.
"We were not sure how much he was able to play," Scott said. "It's a big lift off of my shoulders when I can count on him. He's a real solid player."
But Crunkleton is still looking for all of his players to play well together on the same day. He said he would rather have his players shoot consistent scores instead of just one playing really well.
"We have one guy that plays good," Crunkleton said. "And we just can't get three or four guys to play well."
The Marine Corps Invitational was originally supposed to be a three-day event on Friday, Saturday and Sunday last weekend, but Saturday was rained out, making it a two-day tournament.
Scores were relatively low on the first day of play but Sunday brought high winds and with that came high scores, making the course extremely difficult. Scott said the winds were close to 40-50 miles per hour on Sunday.
"The course wasn't very hard," Scott said. "But the second day was nearly impossible for me."
This was only SRU's third tournament of the semester after a long layoff that dated back to last October. The winter weather in the area doesn't play into the favor of the schools from the North when going south to play.
"Spring is very difficult for northern teams to play well," Scott said. "There were about 25 teams from the South and only about five from the North and you could see a difference. As for us, all we can do to practice is hit balls inside."
SRU tees off again this week at the Indiana, Pa. Invitational on Wednesday and then finishes off the spring season on Thursday when it hosts the Bob Raymond SRU Invitational at Oak View Golf Club.
Matt Walsh led the way for the Rock with rounds of 77 and 74 for a 151 two-day total. Chris Marron carded a 76 on the first day and a 77 on the second day to finish right behind his teammate with a 153.
Adam Scott led the second wave of SRU finishers with a total of 162 on rounds of 76 and 86. Burnie Smucker had rounds of 79 and 87 to finish with a two-day total of 166 and sophomore Adam Schuster tallied nearly identical scores as Smucker, ending with a 167.
As a team, SRU's top four golfers finished with a 633, 65 strokes behind first place finisher Johnson & Wales in the tournament that took place on April 2-3. The other four Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference schools in the tournaments finished ahead of the Rock, including a seventh place finish from IUP.
Coach Dave Crunkleton said he was pleased with the way Walsh finished after being injured in the fall season.
"He had a good tournament," Crunkleton said. "It's good to have him back."
Scott said he realized how important it is to have a healthy Walsh on the course.
"We were not sure how much he was able to play," Scott said. "It's a big lift off of my shoulders when I can count on him. He's a real solid player."
But Crunkleton is still looking for all of his players to play well together on the same day. He said he would rather have his players shoot consistent scores instead of just one playing really well.
"We have one guy that plays good," Crunkleton said. "And we just can't get three or four guys to play well."
The Marine Corps Invitational was originally supposed to be a three-day event on Friday, Saturday and Sunday last weekend, but Saturday was rained out, making it a two-day tournament.
Scores were relatively low on the first day of play but Sunday brought high winds and with that came high scores, making the course extremely difficult. Scott said the winds were close to 40-50 miles per hour on Sunday.
"The course wasn't very hard," Scott said. "But the second day was nearly impossible for me."
This was only SRU's third tournament of the semester after a long layoff that dated back to last October. The winter weather in the area doesn't play into the favor of the schools from the North when going south to play.
"Spring is very difficult for northern teams to play well," Scott said. "There were about 25 teams from the South and only about five from the North and you could see a difference. As for us, all we can do to practice is hit balls inside."
SRU tees off again this week at the Indiana, Pa. Invitational on Wednesday and then finishes off the spring season on Thursday when it hosts the Bob Raymond SRU Invitational at Oak View Golf Club.
