The fall season is underway for the Eastern Michigan University Golf programs and the EMU Men’s Golf program competed in its first tournament at the Southern Dunes Invitational, hosted by the University of Southern California.
Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Course in Maricopa, Arizona, hosted the tournament in the Phoenix area. The course is a par 72 with a total of 7,546 yards.
The event opened up Andy Walker's long-awaited Eastern Michigan head coaching debut. Walker came to Ypsilanti after three full years at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).
The Eagles came in fifth place as a team out of the eight schools that participated. Firing a seven-under-par score of 857, they shot 290-281-286 in all three rounds of the event.
Eastern Michigan had seven of their nine members play in the match as a team. Tim Chan (Hong Kong, China) had the best score for the Eagles in the 54 holes played in the tournament, including a 71-70-70 for a 211 total and five under par for the contest.
Eastern Michigan also had four other players shoot at or below 220, including James Baxter (London, England), Matthew Rastogi (Toronto, Ontario), Bavake Sihota (Caledon, Ontario), and Daniel Robles Deval (Albacete, Spain), who tallied scores of 213, 218, 219, and 220.
Although the Eagles came in fifth place as a team in this tournament, there was a lot of superior competition in this field. The winning score was Chris Bettencourt of Florida State, who floated in the 60s all three rounds with a 68-67-68 to finish at 13 under par. He was the only player to have all three rounds in the 60s in the event.
Eastern Michigan's 857 for the tournament is two shots off its season-high from last season and the 13th lowest score in the program's history.
EMU shot a 290 on the first day and was tied for last place after the first 18 holes, resulting in the fifth-place finish.
The team total of 281 in the second round was the second-best score that day overall. Only USC shot a 273 in the second round and won the tournament by seven shots at -28.
Eastern Michigan will continue its season on Friday, Sept. 20, when they travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to compete in the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate. The two-day tournament will also have action on Saturday, Sept. 21.
For more coverage on the Eastern Michigan men’s golf program, visit The Echo’s website.
