The Waynesburg University men’s golf team continued its season this past Saturday with an improved performance during the Penn State Altoona Invitational. The Yellow Jackets finished 10th overall out of 11 teams, but improved scoring-wise by 15 points from its last competition.
Head coach Sam Jones was optimistic about the lower scores in the team’s second match of the season.
“Three of our guys had their best collegiate match in their respective careers,” said Jones. “We had two guys who did not have our best day, but everyone knows that on their day they can play well.”
Sophomore Will Purbaugh led the team with a low score of 79, enough to tie for 15th place out of 55 golfers. Freshman Luke Diel followed up with an 84, and junior Alex Orlandini rounded the top three with an 89.
Also breaking 100 for the Jackets were sophomores Dylan Nowakowski and CJ Sekanick, with Nowakowski shooting a 98 and Sekanick scoring a 99.
Jones was happy about the improvement he saw from his team from its first match to the second, and is confident that the Jackets could improve even further as the season progresses.
“Compared to our first match, we shot an overall 15 strokes better,” said Jones. “Many of our competitors are only freshman, so the more they play, the more experience they have of keeping calm, getting over a bad hole, [keeping a] strong mentality and things like that.”
While some players played well, some didn’t have their best performance, according to Jones. Overall, however, Jones has a positive mindset going forward.
“Two of our guys did not play their best round,” Jones said. “But both of those players can shoot ten shots better. We’ve seen both of them shoot in the 80’s, and when they do that we already are twenty strokes lower.”
Sophomore Will Purbaugh felt he earned his score, after long hours of work over the summer both on the course and in his head.
“I finally feel comfortable with my game,” said Purbaugh. “We all worked hard over the past few months to improve and I feel my score showed what I personally can do.”
For the season, Purbaugh is more focused on team objectives than how he performs personally.
“We are realistic about our goals this year,” said Purbaugh. “We may not compete for the [Presidents’ Athletic Conference] title, but all of us are working hard to just get better. We have lots of opportunities to practice and were trying to raise our standings in the PAC.”
Purbaugh is encouraged about how the team is continually coming together.
“We’re all looking to help each other,” said Purbaugh. “Golf is done by the individual, but at the end of the day the scores are collected as a team, so it’s all of our jobs to help each other improve and motivate each other.”
The team will hit the links again Sept. 24. The Jackets will look to improve on their standing as they take part in the Westminster Invitational.