Wheeling, W. Va. - As the spring season rolls on, the Wheeling University Men's Golf team continues their push for the team's first-ever appearance at the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships. On Wednesday, they were honored on the conference level with the release of the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Golfer of the Week awards, presented by The Healthplan. Graduate student Troy Loughry was named the MEC's Men's Golfer of the Week, after a strong spring debut on the course.
The graduate student would put together a two-day score of 144 across 36 holes, finishing 2nd overall at even par. He started the event strong, shooting a 74 through the first 18 holes to sit +2 heading into day two. He would birdie twice in the first round, and put together a +1 on both the front and the back nine to round out the day. However, as he headed into day two, Loughry took his game to a new level, dropping four strokes off his score. After shooting +1 on both the front and back nine on day one, he came back strong with a pair of –1 scores on both the front and back nines. It was enough to jump him two spots in the individual standings, giving him the number two spot in the tournament. It was his highest individual finish at an event this season and he looks to use it as momentum down the stretch.
His biggest showing of the tournament would come in the second round when he shot a tournament-best 70 to sit two under par. After shining on the back nine on day one, it was his front nine that saw him put in his most consistent work on day two. He would par on eight of the first nine holes, and finished with a birdie to put him at –1 as he hit the turn. On the back nine, he would carry that momentum with back-to-back pars, but hit his first rough spot with a bogey on hole 12. He quickly erased it with a birdie on the next hole and hit his third birdie of the day on hole 16. He would finish his round with a pair of pars to shoot –1 on the back nine, bringing his overall score to –2. It was his first top three finish of the season and he ends it with his first conference player of the week award.
With Loughry winning Golfer of the Week honors, the Wheeling Athletics Department has now had 41 student-athletes earn Conference Player of the Week honors this season. Loughry is the third Wheeling Golfer to earn Player of the Week honors this season, joining teammates Elias Ekenes-Fosback and Sean Dobson in being honored this season. He is the fourth Cardinal to earn Conference Player of the Week honors this week, joining Baseball players Gavin Millians and Sebastian Khan and Men's Lacrosse player Landen Martin in being honored.
The Wheeling University Men's Golf team returns to action on Tuesday, April 7th, when they compete in the MEC Spring Classic.
