After a long week of road trips, the Baker University men’s golf team returned from the Heart of America Athletic Conference and Region V championships, placing sixth and seventh in the meets, respectively.
On April 26 the Wildcats traveled to Marshall, Mo., to compete in the HAAC championship.
Head coach Karen Exon said she was pleased with a few individual performances but disappointed in the team’s overall placing.
Senior Dave Tregemba tied for seventh in the conference, while junior Michael Kahler placed fourth, and both secured honors on the all-conference team.
“Michael had a solid tournament showing,” Exon said. “He was the most consistent of our performers.”
Kahler had scores of 76 and 75 on a par 72 course, while Tregemba shot 82 and 71.
Going into the Region V championships in south St. Louis, the Wildcats were ranked fourth, but they ended up placing seventh.
After playing 36 holes Monday and 18 Tuesday, Kahler found himself in sixth place, two strokes away from earning all-region honors. Kahler shot the low single round for the tournament during his second round with a 69, three under par. Tregemba finished the region tournament placing 16th.
“Overall, we didn’t play as well as we should have,” Tregemba said. “We showed our age a little bit. With me and Tex (Kahler) being the upperclassmen, we played a little better, but I think the underclassmen learned a lot.”
Exon said the main factor in the team’s poor showing was the loss of a few players between the fall and spring seasons.
“We had a couple of sophomores that were playing in the top five pretty routinely in the fall,” Exon said. “One in particular did not take care of academics in the fall, so they didn’t play in the spring.”
Although cutting golfers was a tough loss for the team, Exon said she would rather have her players do well in the classroom.
“They have to do it first in the classroom, and then they’ll have the privilege of competing,” she said. “It was disappointing in one respect, but it sent a good message in another respect, and we’re going to be better for it in the long run.”
Tregemba said losing the players put a bump in the season, but the team had to push through and continue playing.
“It hurt quite a bit,” he said. “We didn’t have as strong a team as I think we could have. It’s one of those things we just had to deal with.”