OAK BROOK, Ill. - Competing in a varsity invitational for only the second time this spring, the Carthage Firebirds men's golf team showed no signs of rust in at the Bluejay Spring Invite. The team finished just one stroke behind St. Francis (Ill.) for first place and had a pair of golfers -
Alex Lilly (T4) and
Jared Christensen (T7) - finish in the top ten among all individuals.
Carthage finished above its CCIW counterparts - Elmhurst (A and B teams) and North Park - in in the final team standings.
- Result: Second place out of 12 teams
- Location: Oak Brook Golf Club - Oak Brook, Illinois
- St. Francis (Ill). - 315 (+27)
- Carthage - 316 (+28)
- Elmhurst - 318 (+30)
- Wisconsin Lutheran - 321 (+33)
- Elmhurst (B) - 322 (+34)
"On a cold, windy day, on a wet course with some sadistic pin positions - and in a round that took over six hours to complete - I thought we represented ourselves very well," noted Carthage College director of golf and head men's golf coach
Jay Christiansen.
"Because of all the snow and rain in Kenosha, it was only our second day out on a golf course since we returned from Dallas two weeks ago - so I knew there would be some short game rust. It especially showed up in our putting stats."
"Alex [Lilly] and Jared [Christensen] showed some excellent mental toughness, battling the elements, the greens, and the slow pace, and they refused to give in. That was an extreme grind, and they showed that - with the right mindset - one could still play very solid golf. Golf is so much about the psychology of the round, and those two just stayed simple and balanced, and believed they could persevere."
- There'll be no day off for the Firebirds, as the team is set to hit the links in Normal, Illinois over the weekend for the Illinois Wesleyan Spring Invite. Men's golf will compete at Weibring Golf Club today with a shotgun start set for 12:30 p.m. and then will golf at Ironwood Golf Course tomorrow with a shotgun start set for 9:30 a.m.
