Greensburg, PA. – After a slow start to the Hannastown Invitational, the Wheeling University Men's Golf team had a big bounce back on day two. They dropped 10 strokes off their round two score and shot a tournament-best 297 across the three rounds. It brought their three-day total to 903 and helped them finish fifth overall and second among their Mountain East Conference (MEC) competition.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Elias Ekenes-Fosback, who jumped two spots in the standings to finish 14th overall. The freshman would shoot a three-day score of 74, tying his day one score to tie his lowest mark of the tournament. He would start his day off on hole eight, and hit back-to-back pars to head to the back nine at even. After adding two strokes to his score on the first two holes, Ekenes-Fosback was able to find his consistency, hitting par on each of the final seven holes of the round. He would hit the turn looking to continue the success and added another par before putting two strokes on his score. The freshman would get that stroke plus one with back-to-back birdies on holes three and four, hitting his first two birdies of the day. It rounded out a strong tournament for the freshman as he finished third among the MEC competition in the field after setting a new career best for a three-round tournament.
The biggest turn around for the Cardinals came from Zak Collins, who dropped nine strokes off his score from round two. He got off to a strong start with a par on hole nine and would add three more pars on holes 10, 11, and 12. He then topped off the start with back-to-back birdies to sit at -2. After doubling on the next hole, Collins would stay under par with a birdie on hole 16 and finished -1 for the back nine. He would add three strokes on the front nine and finished +2 for the event. While he finished 51st overall, with a three-day score of 234, it was a strong finish that he can use moving forward. The other Cardinal to crack the top 30 was Troy Loughry, who shot 75 on day three to jump six spots and finish the three rounds at 226. He would hit two birdies on the back nine to finish at +1 for the final nine holes. He would add a birdie on the third hole of the day and it was enough to finish the tournament strong for the graduate student.
Rounding out the team scoring portion of the event was Sean Dobson, who finished with a tournament best 76 I. The final round. It was enough to jump him four spots in the individual standings and he finished with three birdies to finish the day. Lodin Femoen rounded out the varsity portion of the event, shooting a 77 to finish tied for 33rd overall. The Cardinals also had several individuals at the event, with Eirik Lindholm (73), Caleb Minson (77), Luke Wennberg (81), Brandon Lee (83), Luis Alvarez (84), Lorenzo Lupi (86), and Vlad Zhang (93) rounded out the day.
The Wheeling University Men's Golf team returns to action on Monday, September 29th, when they head to the Pitt Johnstown Invitational.
