After an opening round 297, the men's golf team was tied for fourth place at the Robert Kepler Invitational in Columbus, Ohio. However, a difficult golf course and a deep field added up in the end, as Ball State finished tied for 11th.
"It would have been nice to maintain that, but we would have had to shoot low," coach Mike Fleck said. "We did a pretty good job of being competitive.
"The course wasn't easy and the greens weren't easy to putt on, but we did a pretty good job."
The 18-team field was the deepest Ball State has faced this spring. The field consisted of all the Big Ten schools excluding Minnesota, six Mid-American Conference schools, Xavier and Kansas State. Xavier led from the start to finish, winning the event by three strokes ahead of Kent State.
Ball State finished above three Big Ten schools and three MAC schools, which was fairly pleasing to Fleck.
C.D. Hockersmith fired a final round 73 to lead the way for the Cardinals. His three-round total of 228 (80-75-73) tied him for 33rd.
Hockersmith continues his strong play and his chance for MAC Freshman of the Year. His 74.7 scoring average this year is the best in the conference for a freshman.
"He is a good golfer," Fleck said. "He plays solid and doesn't make a lot of mistakes. He's done a good job for us this spring."
The team leader in scoring this year, however, is Patrick Wilkes-Krier, with a 74.58. He tied for 37th (73-78-78) at the Robert Kepler along with teammate Brandon Boomsma (72-77-80). Also competing for the Cards was Wayne Denger (77-77-76), who tied for 46th, and Lance Scholl (75-77-85), who tied for 80th.
Fleck and the players knew the Scarlet Course was going to be difficult heading into the event. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of the course was the large, undulating greens.
"It was the biggest greens we've played this year," Fleck said. "They were bumpy and had been aerated within the past two weeks, but everyone had to play them."
The bumpy greens and windy conditions were not helpful to the BSU players.
"We weren't as consistent with our scores," Fleck said. "Some of that was dictated by the conditions and the golf course. We just need to do a better job with our short game."
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