Men's golf places 18th out of 21 in New Mexico
Published Sept. 26, 2006
After a rough start to the year but a good finish in last week's tournament, the Missouri men's golf team appears to be back where it started. The team placed 18th out of 21 teams at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in Albuquerque, N.M.
The high scorers for MU were sophomore Peter Malnati and senior John Kelly, who tied for 48th and 66th respectively, a sharp drop from their top-five performances the tournament before.
This was the Tigers' first match of the season in the desert, a place where the players don't often golf.
"We practice on grass, so whenever you're on a foreign surface, whether it's dirt or rocks or the desert or tumbleweeds, whatever, it is different," coach Mark Leroux said.
Malnati said his rough start was partially due to the desert landscape.
"I hit my ball in the tumbleweeds four or five times in the first 10 holes of the tournament," Malnati said. "It's hard to play out of that."
But the team isn't using the surface as an excuse.
"Golf is golf, so no excuses," Kelly said of their performance in the desert.
In addition to the changes in scenery, the competition was tougher at the Tucker Intercollegiate, which made for three challenging rounds of golf.
"The strength of the field at this tournament was probably the best we've faced so far," Leroux said.
But the team's hope is not lost despite the disappointing finish.
"Sometimes struggling through stuff like this just makes you stronger," Malnati said. "That's what I'm really hoping for right now."
The team has two tournaments left before its winter break.
"I think it's very important that we make some strides here in these last two months going into the spring season," Kelly said. "I think if we can improve upon what we've been doing, we'll be OK."