The Emory men’s golf finished 25th out of 30 in the final round of the Jekyll Island Collegiate Invitational this past weekend. Competing from March 13th through the 15th, the Eagles finished with a score of 921 (298-310-313) in 54 holes.
Freshman Kennan Hickton led the eagles, finishing with 221 points (70-73-78). Senior Alex Wunderlich, who aggregated 227 points (75-75-77), followed him. Close behind were junior Vince Sirianni, sophomore Sam Nichamin and junior Jonathan Gerrard who earned 235, 242, and 244, respectively.
“The boys understood, looking at the top-10 teams, that it does not take super-human ability to perform the best,” Head Coach John Sjoberg said.
He added that although small strategic errors and tactical mistakes occurred, they can be corrected and the team is ready to work up to the top-10 in Montgomery.
LaGrange College (Ga.) came out on top with a score of 863, Illinois Wesleyan University placed second with 873 points. In a tie for first place, Cory Howard of LaGrange and Mason Stutler of Methodist University (N.C.) finished with 207 points, a fantastic nine under par. Hickton ended the invitational tied for 19th place with five over.
“The best thing to say about the team was that we have not performed like we feel that we are capable of,” Hickton said. “We have certainly shown that we are capable of performing like we think; we had a very first good day, we started off at seventh place on the first day which is amazing for that level of play.”
Hickton added that days such as the first day of competition prove that the team can play at the high level they strive for.
The team posted an aggregate score of 298 on the first day, which finished first by eight points.
Wunderlich closed the tournament 11 over par (five over in the first round, and three over in the second and third rounds), the second best showing from the Emory men. Sirani shot 19 over par, with strong showings in the first and third rounds (five over in both). Nichamin posted 26 over par, and Gerrard 28 over.
“The goal was to play as well as we could going in, and the big thing that I took out of Jekyll was that Kennan [Hickton] definitely played great all week,” Sjoberg added.
Sjoberg added that this past weekend was the best field they had seen all season, and to see Hickton finish in the top-20 was great.
“It was amazing to see him be confident and gain some experience at the top as a freshman player,” he said.
Hickton added that he thought he played his best tournament after a slow start to his season.
“I had played consistently well throughout our trip in Florida, I played very well at the [University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships] and then at Jekyll Island,” he said. “It was a very positive experience for me.”
The men will be back in action at the Wynlakes Spring Classic in Montgomery (Ala.), a difficult contest Sjoberg anticipates, as the match will be only against 12 teams compared to Jekyll Island’s 30 teams.
“These are very good teams, but what we need is to put four good scores, as opposed to two or three, on the same day,” Coach Sjoberg said. “We have been practicing, and will continue to do so for the next 10 days, and it will be interesting to see who will step up and give us those four scores we need on the same day.”
Hickton added that the team has constantly shown the ability to compete at the highest level, as evidenced by this past weekend, and needs to build on greater consistency moving forward this season.
The Wynlakes Spring Classic will taker place from March 30 to 31.
