The Eastern Michigan University men’s golf team claimed eighth place in a 13-team field at the Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic Monday and Tuesday. EMU was the only Mid-American Conference member in the tournament held at the Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Ind.
Sophomore Stuart Grehan came in as the Mid-American Conference player of the week and was the top finisher for the Eagles, placing 16th with a score of 216 (71-76-69). Grehan got off to a great start in the first round shooting four-under par in the front nine holes, but had a pair of double bogeys and a bogey on the back nine to end the first round at even par. He ended Tuesday at two-under par. The sophomore from Ireland had to overcome a second round filled with three double bogeys to put up three bogeys and an eagle in the third round on the links.
Junior Michael Blair ended up in 30th place and shot three-over par in the first round, but finished the second round at five-over par. Blair ended the tourney with a score of 222.
Senior Brian Churchill-Smith hit for par in the first two holes of the first round, but hit for double-bogeys on the third and fourth holes. He stroked for an eagle on the five-par fifth hole and proceeded to hit four bogeys on the front nine. Churchill-Smith went on to place 25th with a score of 220.
Sophomore Josh Heinze and freshman Joseph Kremer both finished tied for 24th at the end of the first round with two strokes above par. Heinze was at even par in the first half of the opening round, but started the back nine with four straight bogeys and quickly rebounded with two birdies.
Kremer was competing in the tournament as an individual and ended the competition tied for 51st.
Freshman Kyle Rodes finished in 71st place to claim to finish last among the EMU golfers.
The lead in the individual standings kept changing hands throughout the tournament. Charlie Martin of Georgia Southern University claimed the top spot of the leader board at two-under by one stroke over the seven players tied for second place after round one. Martin fell into a tie for 11th after the second round while Will Davenport of Yale University climbed to the top of the leaderboard from ninth place with a three-under par and had a one-stroke lead after day one. Kyle Pilgrim of the University of Houston shot a 66 in the third and final round to claim the individual title.
The Eagles ended the opening round in ninth place in the team competition 11 strokes above par, but was able to crawl up to eighth on the leaderboard after the first day of competition. Houston dominated from start to finish at the top spot in the team competition and led second place Michigan State University by 15 strokes. Yale University rounded out the podium 20 strokes from the Cougars.
Looking Ahead:
The next tournament on the schedule for the Eastern Michigan men’s squad takes them to Columbus, Ohio in the Jack Nicklaus Invitational Sept. 29-30 with Ohio State University playing host.
