Wheeling, W. Va. - Throughout the season, the Wheeling University Men's Golf team has challenged themselves against some of the top competition in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) and across the region. On Monday, the team begins their final regular season tune-up as they travel to the Susquehanna Golf Course for the Pitt-Johnstown Invitational. It will be the final chance for the Cardinals to hit the course before they take on the MEC Men's Golf Championships next week.
The Cardinals are coming off of their second home event of the season, where they finished fifth at the Hannastown Invitational with a three-day team score of 903. They started the event off strong with a team score of 299 through the first 18 holes, and sat in a tie for fifth as they jumped into round two. However, they would get their team score up over the 300 stroke mark and dropped down to eighth heading into the final day of competition. They would come back with their strongest showing of the tournament, shooting a 297 and jumping three spots in the team standings to finish at a 297 for the event. They would finish as the second place team among the eight MEC teams in the field as they knocked 19 strokes off their score from the Stonewall Invitational.
Pacing the effort was freshman Elias Ekenes-Fosback, who finished 14th overall with a career-best 223 over the three days of competition. He was consistent throughout the tournament, varying his score by just one stroke across the three days. In round one, he started with a 74 to place in the top 10, but added one stroke in round two to fall just outside the top 15. With 18 holes to go on the final day, Ekenes-Fosback was able to bounce back, equaling his day one score of 74, hitting two birdies on the front nine to lead the effort. For his work, he was named the MEC's Male Golfer of the Week, marking the second week in a row that a Wheeling Men's Golfer has taken home the honor.
The other Cardinal to crack the top 30 of the event was graduate student Troy Loughry, who finished 21st with a three-day score of 226. Loughry would put together his best round over the first 18 holes, equaling Ekenes-Fosback's 74 to get his tournament started. As the tournament went on, he finished sub-80 in each of the following two rounds, shooting a 77 in round two and a 75 in the final round. The 226 was his lowest three-day score of the season so far as he looks to continue his leadership for the young team. Rounding out the Cardinal's top three was Lodin Femoen, who just missed the top 30 with a 32nd place finish overall. Like Loughry, it was the first round that was his strongest performance, shooting a 75 to start things, followed by a 77 in rounds two and three to finish off the event.
Their final tune-up takes them to the Sunnehanna Collegiate, where they once again will face some of the top teams from both the MEC and the Atlantic Regional. The Cardinals will be one of four teams from the MEC in attendance, joining Charleston, Davis & Elkins, and Glenville State. The rest of the field is comprised of teams from across both the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC). After finishing in the top 10 in each of their last two tournaments, including their first top 5 finish last time out, and they look to peak at the right time as they head towards the MEC Championship field.
Day one of the Pitt-Johnstown Invitational tees off on Monday, September 29th, with tee times starting at around 8:30 AM.
