Falcons Complete Trip To Bluegrass State In Eighth Place

Sunday, April 10

Lexington, KY

All Day

Bowling Green State University

UK Bluegrass Invitational

April 10, 2011 | Men's Golf

By: by Matthew Daley, Athletic Communications Intern

FINAL RESULTS (.pdf)

The Bowling Green State University men's golf team faces a march to the Mid-American Conference Championships that includes four tournaments in four weeks. The team began that trek on Saturday and Sunday (April 9 and 10) in Lexington, Ky. by finishing eighth at the UK Bluegrass Invitational.

On the Big Blue Course at the University of Kentucky, the Falcons were forced to complete the second round on Sunday prior to beginning the third round, after a rain delay on Saturday ultimately forced suspension of play due to darkness.

Bowling Green finished the second round with their best score of the tournament, as they carded a 293 between Saturday and Sunday's play. The team followed that with a 309 in the final round; that score broke a string of 11 consecutive sub-300 rounds and is the team's largest score of the season to date.

Those scores, combined with a first-round 299, gave the team a composite score of 901 for the tournament's 54 holes. The Falcons finished ahead of ten teams in the field of 18, including MAC foe Ohio University (909). BGSU trailed seventh-place Dayton by five strokes and Michigan State by seven.

Auburn University, ranked in the top ten of the most recent Sagarin ratings, won the tournament with a composite 868; three of their five golfers placed in the individual top ten. Host Kentucky placed second, eight strokes behind the Tigers.

Wes Gates was the Falcons' top individual finisher and posted the team's best round when he scored a 70 during the second round. He paired that with rounds of 72 and 79 for a total of 221 and a tie for 18th place. He trailed the eventual winner, Chris Woeste of Dayton, by eight strokes.

Gates secured a top-20 finish for the fourth time in eight tournaments this season.

Parker Hewit had perhaps the most consistent tournament of any BGSU golfer this weekend. Hewit, who already has four top-20 finishes to his name, earned one of his best scores of the season. He finished the second round with a 73 and closed Sunday's play with a 75. His final tally of 223 includes a first-round 75, and he tied for 23rd place overall.

Meanwhile, Drew Preston also carded a tournament-best 73 in the interrupted second round. Preston, the team leader in scoring average, sandwiched the 73 between rounds of 76 and 77 for a 54-hole score of 226. He finished the event in a four-way tie for 35th place.

Two Falcons, Torey Brummett and Chris Melvin, rounded out play with matching totals of 239. Melvin started the tournament with rounds of 76 and 77 but struggled to an 86 to close the event. Brummett, a sophomore transfer from Owens Community College, carded his two best rounds as a Falcon on Sunday, with scores of 79 and 78. Those follow an opening-round 82.

Bowling Green will again compete next Saturday and Sunday (April 16-17) in Muncie, Ind. at the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational. More information about that tournament will be posted later this week at BGSUFalcons.com.