SEVEN LAKES, N.C.—An abundance of penalty shots prevented the Central College men's golf team from posting a better number in its first outing of the spring at the 36-hole Hampden-Sydney (Va.) Tiger Invitational Sunday.
           
The Dutch stand eighth in an 11-team field with 334. Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.) leads with 312, one shot better than Swarthmore College (Pa.) with the University of Rochester (N.Y.) third at 315 on the par-71 Seven Lakes Country Club near popular North Carolina golf destination Pinehurst.
           
Harold Dobernecker (senior, Nevada) is tied for 15th individually with 79, with Jacob Moffett (senior, Mount Pleasant) at 82, Cole McGriff (junior, Grinnell) at 85, John Oltman (senior, Pella) at 88 and Kayden Pendergrass (junior, Mount Vernon) at 89.
           
"The course is called Seven Lakes but to us it felt like 25 lakes," coach Mel Blasi said. "We had a lot of penalty shots, a lot of really poor tee shots and poor decisions, very typical of what you see in the first round. We had a lot of wasted chances with maybe a little too much anxiety around the greens and some nerves. That first competitive round, you always want it to be better, but it is what it is. It just takes a little time to get into it and get in that competitive mode."
           
Temperatures reached 60 but the players had to navigate 30-mph winds as well as adjust to thin early spring Bermuda turf.
           
"I try not to make excuses because we've been outside (in Iowa this spring) but the grass is just a little different than we're used to and that makes a difference around the green," Blasi said.
           
Improvement is the obvious goal for Monday's round.
           
"We're going to be a little more comfortable on the tee boxes and I think a little more competitive," Blasi said. "If we can stay out of the water and keep the ball in play, I'm confident we'll shoot a good score tomorrow because this is a good group. They never got upset, they just stayed the course even though it wasn't going their way, so I was proud of them for that. I think the execution will be a little better tomorrow."