Playing in very mild conditions on day one then switching to cold and raining weather on day two, the Kentucky Wesleyan Men’s and Women’s golf teams took on some incredibly strong competition at the Music City Invite hosted by Trevecca Nazarene. The women finished seventh with a two-day score (342, 348) of 690 (+114). The men posted their two best scores of the semester (305, 299) to finish in 12th with a 604 (+28).
On the women’s side, freshman Megan Bryan led the way with a two-round score of 165 (+21) to take 18th. Maddie Zimmerman carded rounds of 82 and 88 to tie for 24th with a score of 170 (+26). Samantha DeSpain improved by four strokes on day two (90, 86) to finish in 31st with a 176 (+32). Erin Sexsmith rounded out the scoring for the Panthers with a 179 (+35) to tie for 32nd.
Lewis won the women’s tournament with a team score of 610 (+34), with their own Kasey Kane winning the event with a 2-under 72.
Needing a birdie on his final hole to break 300 and defeat Purdue Northwest, Jonah Graham came up clutch. He hit his second shot of the Par-4 10th hole just three feet away from the cup, then proceeded to sink the putt to give himself a one-under 71 for the day, and the team a 299 for the round. Graham led the Panthers with a two-day score of 149 (+5) to tie for 45th. Tyler Nickol used a strong 73 on day one to card a final score of 151 (+7) to finish in a tie for 52nd. Both Evan Beery and Evan Schumacher shot a 75 in round one and a 78 in round two to finish tied for 57th with a 153 (+9). Ethan Lucas shot his best collegiate round on day one (76) and finished the tournament with a 158 (+14).
G-MAC rival Tiffin won the men’s tournament with a team score of 564 (-12) while Trevecca Nazarene’s Blaine Turner shot rounds of 69 and 67 to take medalist honors with an 8-under 136.
The women will travel to the Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis, Mo. next weekend to play in the Triton Invitational, while the men will head east to Batavia, Oh. to take on Division I competition at the Elks Run Golf Club hosted by Northern Kentucky.
