After almost a five-month offseason, the Ball State University men's golf team finished 16th out of 20 teams in its first event from the spring portion of its schedule Tuesday.
The Cardinals placed ahead of Mid-American Conference rival University of Toledo but behind Miami University at the three-day invitational in Pinehurst, N.C. The Nittany Lions of Penn State University won the tournament with a team-combined score of 862, 42 strokes ahead of Ball State.
Although Pinehurst Course No. 8 was plagued with rainy 40-degree weather, Ball State head coach Mike Fleck said the dreary conditions did not contribute to his team's performance.
"The weather is what it is, but it actually made the golf course more playable," Fleck said. "I was disappointed with our overall performance though. We were down in Pinehurst for 10 days and stayed at the resort over break so I thought we were well prepared. However, we just didn't get any low rounds and that isn't ever going to get you very far."
Senior Brian Maurer tied for 32nd overall individually, making him the top Cardinal performer. Maurer shot a 77, 71 and 75, finishing seven strokes above par.
"I am disappointed on the outcome, but this is just part of getting back into the competitive environment," Maurer said. "We learned a lot about ourselves and what we have to work on. We just have to keep taking steps forward and no steps back."
Fleck said because the Cardinals have been fortunate to practice in good weather during the last months, he had high expectations going into this tournament.
"I wanted to come in and get off to a good start," Fleck said. "I was hoping to do better than we did, but this is just the first one under our belt as we get back into the swing of things."
Fleck said he hopes the weather will continue to be nice so the team can practice outside to see how it responds to the results of the first tournament.
"We will continue to go through the spring trying to identify our five players and get ready for our conference championships," he said.
Despite feeling prepared for Pinehurst, Maurer said he and his teammates have much to work on.
"For some reason or another it just didn't click for us this time," Maurer said. "We need to be better mentally. It wasn't the competition or weather. We simply just need to get better. And even if we play better next week we cannot become complacent. We will still have to work hard."
Ball State will have the next 10 days off before competing in the Ball State Cardinal Collegiate on March 28 and 29 in Jasper.
Leaderboard
| Team | To par | Score |
| 1. Penn State | -2 | 867 |
| 2. Virginia Tech | +3 | 867 |
| 3. Michigan St. | +13 | 877 |
| 3. Minnesota | +13 | 877 |
| 3. VCU | +13 | 877 |
| 6. UNC Wilm. | +19 | 883 |
| 7. Marquette | +23 | 887 |
| 8. Old Dominion | +26 | 890 |
| 9. Miami U | +27 | 891 |
| 9. Michigan | +27 | 891 |
| 11. S Mississippi | +28 | 892 |
| 12. E Kentucky | +32 | 896 |
| 13. Radford | +35 | 899 |
| 14. UNC Greens. | +37 | 901 |
| 14. Wichita St. | +37 | 901 |
| 16. Ball State | +40 | 904 |
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