Temple travelled north this weekend for its second event of the fall season. The Owls participated in the Quechee Club Collegiate Challenge and finished sixth in a field of 15 schools. Four of the five golfer’s that tallied on Temple’s scorecard were sophomores, while redshirt freshman Erik Reisner competed in the individual pool.
Sophomore Sam Soeth was the low man for the Owls over the weekend carding rounds of 74 and 73 respectively to finish three strokes over par for the event. Fellow sophomore Trey Wren shot the second-best two-round score of an Temple golfer over the weekend with a five-over, while redshirt sophomore John Barone was seven over. Junior Mark Farley and sophomore Gary McCabe rounded things out for the Owls shooting nine over and 15 over respectively.
Temple played the majority of the weekend in heavy winds. Therefore, finishing on the top half of the team leaderboard with a very young lineup, made coach Brian Quinn happy.
“If they’re not hitting the ball solid, the wind is going to chew you up and spit you out,” Quinn said. “I don’t feel that happened with any of my kids. I think quite honestly it just comes down to making some better decisions.”
Those decisions Quinn makes reference to are in regard to his team’s play within 50 yards of the pin. Barone shot a 77 in Sunday’s second round, but Quinn felt the redshirt sophomore “could have shot a 68.”
Barone added that he felt the greens over the weekend made it difficult to get the ball in the hole regardless of how well he was playing off the tee and in the fairways.
“I was hitting it pretty good all day, the greens were really quick and I struggled on them a little,” Barone said.
Soeth finished 12th on the individual leaderboard, but he too felt there was room for improvement in tight.
“I left a lot of shots out there to be honest,” Soeth said. “I just didn’t have it on my first couple holes today.”
Despite struggling around the hole, Temple managed to shoot six strokes lower than it did at the Quechee Club Collegiate Challenge last fall. The Owls team score was 28-over par in 2015 and this year, Temple finished at +22.
Quinn attributed the improvements to the work ethic of his young team. Even the players who didn’t travel this week have impressed Quinn and he plans to insert freshman Marty McGuckin into the lineup next week in Raleigh, North Carolina at the Wolfpack Fall Intercollegiate.
“This is my favorite team I’ve ever had one through eleven,” Quinn said. “They’re awesome kids. I’m very lucky. They just all want to work and get better. Everyone’s in this for the long haul and they know what they need to do. They’re very realistic and they’re great kids.”
Greg Frank can be reached at Greg.Frank@Temple.edu or on Twitter @g_frank6.
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