Although the Ball State University men's golf team was in third place with 18 holes left in the Rutherford Intercollegiate at University Park, Pa., the Cardinals finished seventh out of the 12-team field.
After shooting a team-combined score of 293 and 297 in the first and second round, Ball State shot a 326 in the third round, which was the highest team score during that round. No Cardinal shot below 80 in the final round.
"We were in pretty good shape after the first two rounds, but we definitely didn't do anything in the last round," head coach Mike Fleck said. "We played in some challenging weather conditions, but we just didn't handle it well relative to the rest of the field. For whatever reason we just didn't handle the rain as well as everyone else did."
For the second straight week, junior Brian Maurer led all Cardinals. He tied for 10th individually, carding scores of 71, 73 and 81. Junior Andrew Rhodes tied for 15th individually and shot the team-low score of 69 in the first round.
Penn State University, who played host to the tournament, came away with the victory. The Nittany Lions shot a total score of 878, 38 strokes ahead of Ball State. The 54-hole invitational included four other Mid-American Conference schools: University of Akron, Miami University, Ohio University and Bowling Green State University. The Cardinals finished ahead of Ohio University.
"We played poorly. We didn't have a player break 80 in the final round," Fleck said. "It's disappointing from my perspective. We have to have guys be competitive with the better guys on the field and that didn't happen."
With final exams next week and the MAC Championships less than two weeks away, Maurer said he realizes the hard work ahead of him.
"This is the tournament we work for," Maurer said. "This is also college, however, so we have to get our education. But we just have to practice 110 percent and prepare as best we can. We have to be ready for the MAC Championships and ready to play. As a team playing for each other."
In the next week, Fleck will be figuring his five-player lineup. Because Maurer and Rhodes have played well all spring season, Fleck said they are already qualified to make the cut.
"The thing that is challenging is that we are at a point in the season where we should be getting the team ready for the conference tournament," Fleck said. "But because our lineups and performances have been so inconsistent we still have things to do. Brian and Andrew have been our two top players and will be exempt. But the other guys are going to be challenged, because we need to find three players who will be ready to go."
Maurer hopes his teammates will prepare mentally and physically for the upcoming tournament.
"In my eyes I just want to see players who want to win the MAC and not be happy just making the tournament cut," he said.
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