Golf has ‘weird week’ at Firestone Invitational

Temple’s performance at the Firestone Invitational on Monday and Tuesday had coach Brian Quinn flummoxed.

“This was a really weird week,” he said.

The Owls finished 32-over par to tie for 12th in the 16-team field in Akron, Ohio. But junior Sam Soeth had the best tournament of his college career. He shot a second-round 68 to help him tie for fourth in an 87-player field.

“Sam is the glue to our program,” Quinn said. “It’s not always about how you shoot. He keeps the kids loose on the course and adds a lot to the chemistry which is huge.”

Soeth’s performance didn’t translate to team success. The Owls shot 45-over on par-4s. He said some of his players made “some immature decisions.”

“Every time we made a mistake this week, we paid dearly for it,” Quinn said. “They’re some teachable moments, and you can go back to that and improve.”

The Owls’ struggles came in part because of rough rounds from No. 2 starter redshirt junior John Barone.

In the par-72 event, he carded totals of 82, 83, and 80 in three rounds. He had three rounds of 1-over 70 at the Cornell Invitational in September to help Temple win the event.

“John didn’t count for three rounds and that killed us,” Quinn said. “ He just didn’t have his game this week.”

After posting Temple’s best final-round score at the Quechee Club Collegiate Challenge on Sept. 24, freshman Dawson Anders shot 81, 81 and 73.

“Dawson, who’s a great player, really had some trials and tribulations on the course this week,” Quinn said. “He had two [triple bogeys] and a 12 on a par five. We had to count those scores, and with all the different things going on, that really hurt us.”

Despite Dawson’s 12, Temple’s par-5 scoring remained mostly strong. The Owls shot 4-under par on par-5 holes, which Quinn believes are his team’s strong asset.

Temple will have more than a week before its next competition, the Georgetown Intercollegiate on Oct. 16. Quinn wants his to take some time to gather itself.

“We’re gonna take a breather for the next day or two,” Quinn said, “But after that, we are going to be doing some things on the golf course where we start seeing these kids making the right decisions.”