A stretch of 108 holes in four days is in the books as Temple wrapped up its second tournament of the year on Tuesday.
After finishing in a tie for fifth place at The Doc Gimmler tournament in New York over the weekend, the Owls traveled to Newport, R.I. and finished tied for eighth in the Adams Cup.
Senior Matt Crescenzo led Temple, carding a six-over 222, en route to a tie for 11th place overall. Crescenzo shot an even-par 71 during the first two rounds and concluded the tournament with an 80. Sophomore Brandon Matthews tied for 29th overall. Junior Mike Amole finished one stroke behind Matthews and tied for 34th. Junior Matt Teesdale finished 51st and freshman Evan Galbreath tied for 75th.
“The first day was 36 holes,” Crescenzo said. “I actually drove the ball pretty well. I hit the ball ok, but I putted really well. I made a lot of four and five putts for par, which is pretty good at [Newport National Golf Club]. The course is probably one of the toughest we’ve played.”
“The first day the weather was really good, the second day the wind was kind of going a little bit and the course was playing tough,” Crescenzo added.
The difficult weather conditions made the final round a struggle for the entire field and contributed to Crescenzo’s 9-over round, but the difficult schedule also played a factor.
“[The weather] is not really an excuse but it makes it a little bit harder with the weather and it being our last day of our fourth day of golf playing thirty six, eighteen, thirty six and eighteen holes [in consecutive days],” Crescenzo said. “Everyone was getting a little beat up.”
Newport National Golf Club is a highly recognized course in Rhode Island. The layout is one of the toughest Temple will compete on during the fall.
“It’s fairly open off the tee,” Crescenzo said when asked about the course dimensions. “The fairways are kind of wide, but if you do miss the fairway, you’re penalized. The greens are pretty angulated for what were used to, so its pretty tough around the greens.”
“If you get the ball in the wrong spot, its pretty hard to get it up and down and the greens were playing pretty fast and firm because of all the wind,” Crescenzo added.
His senior season has gotten off to a good start, but Crescenzo admitted that he must improve on finishing strong in tournaments.
“It’s probably my hardest thing,” Crescenzo said. “The last two tournaments, I’ve played well the first two days then the third day its been a little bit of a let up. Today I would say it was a little bit of a let up, but [the course] was definitely playing a little harder than it was before, but its something I do need to work on.
Golf is different from other sports in that fans cannot make noise when a player is set to take a shot and the only time the crowd can shout is after the ball is struck.
Crescenzo said the mental aspect of golf wears him down after four straight days of golfing.
“It’s just a strain,” Crescenzo said. “The last day your just beat up, a little bit tired and your really tiring to focus and your already tired mentally, so its just something I have to work on, get a little stronger at and it takes time.”
Chase Senior can be reached at chase.senior@temple.edu or on Twitter @Chase_Senior.
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