Aggie men slip from 3rd to 5th

DURANT, Oklahoma (October 9) – The Cameron men’s golf team traveled to Durant this week to take part in the Southeastern Oklahoma State Texoma Cup. The Aggies finished in last place in the event last season, but were able to finish the event in 5th place out of 11 total teams this time around. Cameron was in 3rd place after yesterday’s first round, but slipped to 5th with a team score of 608 (296-312). St. Edward’s University, the No. 2 team in the nation, stayed in 1st place throughout to win the tournament. SEU’s Jeff Howard won the individual title with a 142 (72-70).

“We played terrible and did everything terrible today,” Head Coach Jerry Hrnciar said. “We didn’t grind and we didn’t finish off a round. We had a great opportunity to finish in 2nd place; all we needed to do was a little thinking and effort. I’m not very happy, even with my experienced players.”

Junior Peter Svajlen had the best finish for the Aggies, ending the event in a tie for 8th place overall (out of 58 golfers). He recorded a two-round score of 148 (72-76). Svajlen also finished the tournament with the second-best par-four scoring (4.00, E) and the fourth-most pars (24).

“We talked about trying to do everything the way we should be doing it but for whatever reason we can’t get going this year,” Coach Hrnciar said. “The talent is there but nothing is working.”

Senior Cane Shumaker finished the Texoma Cup in 28th place with a total score of 154 (73-81). He was the lone Aggie to not be in a tie in the final standings.

Sophomores Michael Lee and Robbe Trout finished in a tie at 29th place after they both shot a two-round score of 155. Lee went 77-78 while Trout shot 74-81.

“It seemed like we either all played good or all played bad,” Coach Hrnciar said. “The one thing we did do better was that we didn’t make any huge numbers on any one hole. We did cut that down which kept us in the hunt, but this course was one where you could make big numbers really easily because of all the rain and deep roughs.”

Sophomore Brett Leavell was the only Aggie to show improvement from round one to round two. He finished the tournament in 36th place after shooting a 157 (80-77). He also ended the event with the fifth-most pars (23).

“We played par-fives terribly and that is something we have to correct or we won’t beat anybody,” Coach Hrnciar said. “We will hit practice pretty hard in next couple of weeks.”

The Aggie men’s golf team now has a few weeks off until their next event. They next travel to San Antonio on October 22-23 to take part in the St. Mary’s Rattle Invitational at the Pecan Valley Golf Club.