SEVEN LAKES, N.C.— Junior
Kayden Pendergrass (Mount Vernon) posted a team-low 78, but the Central College men's golf team slipped a notch to ninth in the 11-team, 36-hole Hampden-Sydney (Va.) Tiger Invitational Monday.
Central did improve three shots and closed at 334-331—665. Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.) took first at 312-302—615 with Swarthmore College (Pa.) at 313-309—622.
Jacob Moffett (senior, Mount Pleasant) was Central's top overall finisher, placing 30th at 81-82—163, with Pendergrass at 89-78—167.
Harold Dobernecker (senior, Nevada) was at 79-89—168 with
Cole McGriff (junior, Grinnell) at 85-87—172 and
John Oltman (senior, Pella) at 88-85--173.
Individual at-large entrant
Tate Nelson (senior, Burlington, West Burlington HS) shot 88-90—178 and
Charlie Gaer (senior, Des Moines, Roosevelt HS) had 89-90—179.
"Kayden played great," coach
Mel Blasi said. "He had one rough hole but he had four birdies. He was our bright spot. Jake Moffett played well most of the day and just ran into a rough patch at the end."
Blasi said the par-71 Seven Lakes course carries a 74 rating and lived up to it.
"As course ratings go, that's high," he said. "The course is probably harder than we thought. Maybe we didn't give it as much respect as we should have in terms of just putting the ball in play off the tee. We were maybe too aggressive and hit drivers on holes where we shouldn't have. And not having played a lot and working on secondary clubs probably hurt us as much as anything.
"But no excuses. We just did not play well and we didn't execute the shots that I know we're capable of."
The Dutch are off until March 25-26 when they are at the Garn Championship at the par-72 Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky, site of the PGA Tour's Barbasol Championship. But they'll remain in North Carolina for practice rounds during the remainder of spring break week, with playing opportunities at other courses at the prestigious Pinehurst Resort. Pinehurst No. 2 is the site of this year's U.S. Open.
"We'll play an alumni outing on Thursday and play a couple other places here the next couple days," Blasi said. "The weather looks like it's going to be fantastic.
"I know these guys will be right back at it. We've got Keene Trace in less than two weeks so we'll be preparing for that and hitting a lot of golf balls on the range. We'll try to get as many balls up here as we can because when you come home, you never know what the weather will be like."
