McGrath brothers shine despite Temple men’s golf low placing

Temple men’s golf traveled to Burlington, North Carolina for the Phoenix Invitational on Monday and Tuesday.

The brother duo of Liam and Conor McGrath had the two best scores for Temple golf in the Phoenix Invitational in North Carolina Monday and Tuesday.

Despite the great outing from the brothers, the team finished the outing in twelfth place with a composite score of 858.

“We’re not all playing well at the same time,” coach Brian Quinn said. “That’s the biggest problem we got going right now.”

Sophomore Conor McGrath led the pack over the two days with his play. McGrath posted a 69 in the opening round, two below the par of 71. He followed the first round shooting one-over in the second and another 69 in the third. McGrath collected 14 birdies total, including four consecutive birdies on the back nine on Tuesday’s round and finished the outing tied for 17th.

Junior Liam McGrath started out the tournament with an on-par 71 in Monday morning’s round. After lunch, McGrath pulled out a 72 in the second round. He finished the third with a six-under in the third round. Liam bested his brother with 15 birdies total and finished in 49th place.

“That was great stuff to see,” Quinn said.

Freshman Danny Nguyen had a consistent tournament. He scored a 74 in all three rounds on Monday and Tuesday, finishing with a 222 to tie for 73rd.

Junior Dawson Anders struggled with this tournament. He recorded a four-over 75 in the first round, followed by a three-over 74 in the second, in which he double-bogeyed twice on the front nine. Anders finished the third round with a two-over 73 and tied for 73rd. 

Freshman Graham Chase scored a five-over 76 on Monday morning. In the afternoon, he recorded a one-under 70. Chase concluded the third round with a seven-over 78 and finished the tournament tied for 81st.

“We’re just not there yet,” Quinn said.  “We really could’ve had a special day if the other guys, you know, played a little bit better.”

Quinn said that once the team starts to click together, they’re going to be a tough team.

“Tee-to-green, we’ve got a very strong team,” Quin said.  “Mentally, we just gotta get better.”

The Owls have the next week off before traveling to Palm Harbor, Florida for the Intercollegiate at Innsbrook Oct. 28 and 29.  

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