Aggies fight back for 15th place
EDMOND, Oklahoma (April 7) – Improved second and third rounds were not enough this week for the Cameron men’s golf team, who today wrapped up play at the annual Kickingbird Classic tournament. The Aggies finished the 18-team event in 15th place with a three-round score of 924 (319-309-296). The event was hosted by the University of Central Oklahoma and was played at the Kickingbird Golf Club.
“We have got a lot more ability than we’ve shown, but for some reason it’s not coming out,” Head Coach Jerry Hrnciar said. “I don’t know why this year is so much different than past years.”
Tough winds and freezing temperatures throughout the two-day tournament made conditions brutal for all 18 teams. The host UCO Bronchos overcame the weather to win the event with a total team score of 862 (289-298-275). Winning the individual title was UCO’s Colby Shrum with a 205 (68-71-66).
“Considering how bad the weather was, I don’t think we played all that bad,” Coach Hrnciar said. “But just about everybody else beat us so obviously we didn’t play well. We just are not performing well at all. The weather was just horrendous and even though I though we were prepared physically, we let the weather get to us.”
Junior Brett Leavell paced the Aggie men and was the only player on the team to finish in the top 50 players. Leavell turned in a three-round score of 221 (76-76-69) for a tie at 15th place overall. His final round score was CU’s lowest of the tournament.
Leavell also finished the event with the third-best par three scoring average (3.07, +1).
“Brett Leavell played well in the tournament,” Coach Hrnciar said. “After the first round we stayed up with most of the other teams, but the first round got us so far behind. Our second and third rounds were reasonably good, but when you look at the top teams and what they shot, that’s where we thought we’d be.”
Finishing a stroke apart for Cameron were senior Joe Koniecznzy and junior Michael Lee. Koniecznzy took home a tie at 55th place with a score of 233 (81-79-73) while Lee finished in a tie at 62nd place with a score of 234 (82-75-77).
Two strokes behind Koniecznzy and Lee was Aggie junior Robbe Trout who finished in a tie at 72nd place overall. His three-round score totaled up to a 236 (80-79-77).
Rounding out the five CU scores was freshman Chris Larremore who turned in a 240 (82-81-77). Larremore, who is working his way back from a rib injury, finished in a tie at 84th place overall.
The Aggie men’s golf team is scheduled to close out their 2008-2009 season in two weeks (April 20-21) at the annual Lone Star Conference Championship tournament. Like last year, the LSC event will be held at the WinStar Golf Course in Thackerville, Oklahoma.
“When you get beat by more than 10 shots, you are not ready for big dance,” Coach Hrnciar said. “We aren’t going to be able to do much this year so we will salvage what we can and start getting ready for next year. We have got to wrap up the season strong and we will really be looking to put a solid tournament together so we can finish the year on a high note. We need to do so for our momentum heading into offseason.”
Last year the Aggie men’s golf team left Thackerville with the 2008 LSC Championship trophy.
