Men’s golf places last in its opener

Over the weekend, the Troy men’s golf team opened its season with a dead-last finish among 15 teams at the Carpet Capital Collegiate, an annual tournament held at The Farm golf course in Rocky Face, Georgia.

The Trojans competed against a truly competitive field, with all but one of their opponents being ranked in the top 100. Troy’s closest foe in the final standings was Virginia, which is currently ranked 12th in the nation according to golfstat.com.

Junior Calum Masters started strong in the first round of the tournament, scoring four birdies on the first four holes. Then, in the second round, he scored a birdie on two of the opening three holes. From there, he scored a 2-over in the final nine holes and finished with a score of 4-over after the third round and a tie for 54th place.

Fellow junior Dean Martin led the Trojans in Sunday’s third and final round, scoring three birdies on the first six holes. He then went to the back nine at 1-over and scored two birdies on those last nine holes. Martin ended the round with a score of 2-over 74 to tie for 60th place with an overall score at 11-over for the tournament.

Teammate and freshman Connor Futrell finished his final round with three birdies and a score of 5-over. He finished tied for 70th place with a score of 14-over in his first collegiate tournament appearance. Behind him was Ike Alexander, who ended the final round with a score of 5-over and a score of 16-over for the tournament to finish in 75th place. Mac Murphy finished in 81st place for the tournament.

After all was said and done, Georgia Tech took the overall victory, beating the Alabama Crimson Tide in a playoff to claim a victory. The Yellow Jackets finished the tournament with five players placing in the top 15.

The next time the Trojan men’s golf team will play will be on Sept. 25-26 in the Shoal Creek Invitational. This tournament is hosted by UAB and will be held in Birmingham, Alabama.