Despite a strong final round, the men’s golf team finished 11th in a 14-team field in the Macdonald Cup at a historically challenging Yale course.
Bruno shot 299-298-289 in the tournament’s three rounds, finishing with a cumulative score of 886 — 46 strokes above par. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the runners-up at last year’s national championship, won the tournament at 33 strokes under par, with host team Yale finishing 25 shots behind the Illini in second.
Just like in their previous tournament, the Bears turned on the jets the final day and moved up in the standings. They were in last after both the first and second rounds before shooting the seventh-best score in the third round to jump Fairfield University and end in a tie with Fordham University.
The team’s third-round score beat those of Ivy League rivals Cornell, Penn and Dartmouth.
“After today, we showed we can compete with all of them,” said Nelson Hargrove ’13.5.
Head Coach Michael Hughes echoed the sentiment, saying, “We performed exactly like we should” in the third round.
But the first two rounds sunk the Bears deep in the standings.
“We definitely did not play well the first day,” said Justin Miller ’15. Hughes said the team “got out of the box poorly.” The troublesome first two rounds and the improved third round left Hughes disappointed by his team’s inconsistency for the second straight tournament.
“We have miles to go before we get consistent,” Hughes said. He said he hoped for stable play throughout the tournament after a rough second round sunk the team in its previous tournament but added that they “couldn’t seem to get out of our own way … it was a little frustrating.”
But Hughes noted the final round was a “step in the right direction … they were a little more focused,” though he said he wished his team had been as focused “from the beginning.”
Hargrove and Miller were the team’s top shooters, individually placing 21st and 35th, respectively. Hargrove shot 74-71-70 for a total of 215 strokes and five above par, while Miller shot 72-75-73, putting him 10 strokes above par. Each said he was happy with his performance.
“I’m finally hitting the ball like I know I can,” Hargrove said, and Miller said he “definitely hit it better.”
“Everybody’s game is coming around,” Hargrove said. “Everybody’s headed in the right direction.”
“We’re just gearing up,” Hughes said.
Next weekend, Bruno heads to Philadelphia to compete in the Temple Invitational, hosted Oct. 12-13 by Temple University.
Inconsistent play hinders Bears at Yale tournament
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