Men’s golf finishes 11th in the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate

Dylan Hurst

The Troy men’s golf team finished 11th out of 12 teams after the third and final round of play Tuesday in the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate held in Birmingham.

The team faced some tough competition over the weekend, with 10 teams being ranked in the top 100 last season. One of those teams was the eventual tournament winner, Wake Forest.

Troy shot 28 shots over par and 43 shots behind Wake Forest, but the Trojans did finish 10 shots higher than South Alabama.

The Trojans were led by junior Calum Masters, whose 3-over performance earned him a tie for 23rd on the individual leaderboards. He was followed by teammate and freshman Connor Futrell, who bounced back after a tough second round to finish 7-over in 37th place.

Ike Alexander, another freshman, shot a 1-over in Tuesday’s final round to move up 13 spots into a tie for 45th. Three spots behind him was the Trojans’ Dean Martin, who struggled in the third round to finish 48th.

Freshman Mac Murphy was the final Trojan on the leaderboard in 69th place.

As a team, the Trojans had their worst day in the third round, shooting seven shots higher than their first round on their way to a 12-over 300 performance for Tuesday’s final round.

“We’ve had the opportunity to see our young guys play in these first two tournaments, and there are some growing pains to be expected,” Head Coach Bart Barnes said. “We have not had the results and finishes that we are looking for and have been common in our program.

“We showed improvement this week, but there are still areas where we have to get better, and we will continue to get better as the semester goes on.”

On Oct. 8-10, the Trojans will be competing in the Intercollegiate at the Grove. The event will be hosted by Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.