Three members from the golf team, senior Aaron Hill, junior Joshua Miller and freshman Will Purbaugh, traveled to the Westminster Invite to compete a week before the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Fall Championship on Monday, Sept. 25,
Head coach Sam Jones said he was not looking for any specific placements, but rather the invite served the opportunity for the golfers to strengthen their skills.
“It was just another day to play golf and get better. That is what golf is really all about,” said Jones. “There is no real record, we are not looking to finish second in the conference in the regular season or top five, because there is no regular season. It is just about getting out there and golfing. So, when a couple of your guys are just out there getting better at golf that is what you want. So, I’m just happy with that.”
Hill carded a 16-over 88, finishing in a tie for 51st place in the invite. Miller went on to shoot a 93 and Purbaugh was pulled out due to an injury during the contest.
According to Jones, the consistency of Hill was evident in his performance despite moments of frustration.
“[Hill] did fine. He had a bit of a rough day and had some unlucky breaks, but he still had a decent score,” said Jones. “The course was playing particularly hard for a lot of people. The thing about [Hill] is that he is a consistent golfer and he doesn’t get himself into a lot of trouble, which we all know is the key to golf, and he had some amazing shots. I know he was frustrated but he had a pretty good day.”
Jones was also happy with what he saw from Miller during the event, though said there is still room for improvement.
“[Miller] had some really good holes. He struggled a little bit with his short game, but that was just rust,” said Jones “That was his first competitive round of golf since his freshman year, he is now a junior, so I was pretty pleased with some of the stuff I saw from him. He definitely is a great ball striker, and once he shakes the rust off a little bit, the scores should be better than they were.”
The Waynesburg University golf team will be back in action this Saturday, Sept. 30, in a dual match against Carlow University at Youghiogheny Country Club in McKeesport.
“We are going to use it as a tune up for PAC’s, that is why we scheduled it there,” said Jones. “We won’t worry about results, but just fine tune our strategy going into PAC’s and work on our games…We just got to get back to playing Jacket golf.”
Women’s golf retook the greens as well for Waynesburg University on Saturday, Sept. 23 in the Westminster Invitational.
The Yellow Jackets were represented by sophomores M’Kenna Murphey and Kara Compton, junior Raegan Zeppernick and senior Cassie Hudson. On the afternoon, the Yellow Jackets placed in last place with a combined score of 710. Murphey led the Jackets with a finish at 33rd with a score of 129.
The women will get back to golfing on Sept. 30, as well, to face Carlow.