Aggie golf finishes sixth at St. Eds

AUSTIN, Texas (February 20) – The Cameron men’s golf team traveled to the capital of the Lone Star State over the weekend to compete in the St. Edwards Invitational Golf tournament where they placed sixth overall. The event opened the 2007 spring season for the Aggies, who have only been able to practice a handful of times due to the harsh Lawton weather.

 

While the temperature in Austin may have been pleasant, the rest of the weather made golf a bit difficult. Despite the rough and windy conditions, Cameron placed sixth out of fifteen total teams. Four of the teams that finished ahead of the Aggies have already competed in at least one tournament so far this season.

 

“I can’t complain because it was so windy on the first day that everyone struggled,” Head Coach Jerry Hrnciar said. “We kept improving each round and even exceeded my expectations a bit. Our short game wasn’t as good as I had hoped for, but I’m still pleased.”

 

Cameron finished with a three-round total of 920 (316-309-295) and was in second place after the first round. St. Edwards University, the host school, won the event with a three-round score of 897 (316-301-280).

 

Sophomore Peter Svajlen and senior Matt Trammel finished in a tie for fifteenth place overall with a three-round score of 228 (79-75-74 and 83-75-70, respectively). Freshman Michael Lee led the team after the first day with a first-round score of 73, good enough for second overall. Lee finished the tournament with a total score of 234 (73-85-76) which awarded him twenty-seventh place.

 

“Individually no one really had a great tournament,” Coach Hrnciar said. “Peter (Svajlen) was steady and Matt (Trammel) finished really strong, but Michael held us together in the first round. We are on course and the rest of the season is very promising.”

 

Barry University’s Hernan Borja won the tournament after shooting 75-74-67 for a 216 overall score. A total of 79 golfers turned in scorecards at the end of the tournament.

 

The other two Cameron golfers competing in the event were junior Cane Shumaker and freshman Brett Leavell. Shumaker finished in thirty-second place with a final score of 236 (81-80-75) while Leavell finished in sixty-sixth place with an overall score of 247 (88-79-80).

 

“We just need to get out more. Then we will start putting it together for surge at end of the season,” Coach Hrnciar. “My philosophy is not worry too much on how we do early as long as I can see improvement. That will give us a chance to qualify for nationals.”

 

The Cameron men’s golf team travels to San Juan Capistrano, California to compete in the SoCal Intercollegiate over the first weekend in March.