KSU’s men’s golf team finished 10th at the Carpet Capital Collegiate tournament at The Farm Golf Club in Rocky Face, Ga., on Sunday.
The Owls, who will move on without former superstars Matt Nagy and Jeff Karlsson, both seniors last year, had to face tough competition in their season opener.
Competition kicked off early Friday morning. Senior Ben Greene led the team to a strong finish on the first day of play. The four-year starter played well, finishing the first day of competition tied for eighth. Greene posted a score of 70 on the par 72 course.
Fellow teammate Peder Lunde Hermanson finished the day even with a score of 72. The senior struggled on the 17th hole, shooting a double bogey that dropped him from two under par. He finished the day tied for 22nd. Freshman Nicolai von Dellingshausen, competing in his first collegiate event, shot three over with a score of 75, while junior Jonathan Klotz rounded out the team score by shooting a 76.
The Owls finished the day with a score of 293. With two rounds of play remaining, the Owls were only nine strokes behind last year’s national championship runner-up, Alabama, for second place.
Head coach Jay Moseley was extremely pleased with his team’s play on Friday.
“Anything can happen on this course, so if we improve each day, we can challenge the teams at the top,” Moseley said.
The Owls finished the
second day of competition
tied for 11th place. Greene,
still tied for eighth, continued to impress, finishing Saturday with consistent play and a score of 70. Through a 36-hole total, Greene was -4 with eight birdies on the scoreboard.
“Ben is playing really solid right now,” Moseley said.
“His ball striking has been remarkable this week and it is great to see him playing well.”
Hermanson and Klotz finished Saturday tied for 45th. Hermanson dropped after posting a score of 77, while Klotz moved up the board with a score of 73. Dellingshausen shot a 76 to end the second day of competition tied for 58th.
“We looked great at times, but we also made some costly mistakes. This golf course demands shot making for 18-holes, but it rewards good shoots and penalizes your mistakes. Our misses were often in very bad positions that led to difficult scoring,” Moseley said.
On the final day of competition, Greene came out firing, finishing in sixth place, propelling the Owls to a top ten finish in the tournament.
For the third consecutive day, Greene shot a score of 70 against some of the toughest competition in the country. Greene helped the Owls post a team total 883, to finish 10th in a field that had seven of the 15-teams ranked in the pre- season top 25 in Golf World magazine.
“I had a great weekend and was fortunate to be able to put three good rounds together,” Greene said. “I did a lot of things well, but still have plenty of room for improvement.”
Hermanson tied for 31st with a score of 73 on the final day, allowing him to jump
up the board 14 spots. Klotz dropped to 66th place with an overall finish of 229, while Dellingshausen finished 68th after carding a 230.
“Overall we had a solid tournament,” Moseley said. “We obviously didn’t finish as well as we had intended, but we beat some great teams in an extremely deep field. We will take
the positives away from this and continue to work hard on improving the negatives.”
The Owls will return to action on Sept. 24, when the team travels to Birmingham, Al., to compete in the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate, hosted by UAB.
