Golfers Place Ninth at Weather-Shortened Embry-Riddle Classic
The College of Wooster opened its spring season with a ninth-place
showing among 13 teams at the rain-shortened Embry-Riddle Golf Classic in
Daytona Beach, Fla., on March 12.
The tournament had been scheduled to be played among a field of 26
squads over two days on two different courses, but with the dangerous
weather on Tuesday, the final results had to be split up as if there were
two separate events that took place.
The wash-out really hurt teams like Wooster, which played a
practice round at Indigo Lakes Golf Club - the course that it would have
played on Tuesday.
But, on Monday at Daytona Beach Golf Club's North Course, the Scots
fired a team score of 329, while Valdosta State University paced the field
with a score of 293.
"We played pretty well on the first nine," Wooster head coach Rich
Danch said. "I really don't think our stamina is there yet and we struggled
on the back nine."
Individually, senior Nick Balcken led the Scots and finished in a
tie for 22nd overall after carding a score of 76.
"Nick played a real nice round," commented Danch. "Considering he
only hit four greens, shooting a 76 is a pretty good accomplishment. He had
the putting and chipping working real well."
Sophomore Jon Pintado was next with a score of 83, followed by a
pair of 85's from classmates Graham Binder and Ryan Flynn. Matt Elliott,
another sophomore who averaged a 78.7 in the fall, struggled, coming into
the clubhouse with an 86.
Wooster does not compete again until March 29-30 when it will be
part of the field at the Muskingum College Spring Invitational in
Zanesville, Ohio.
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