04/04/08
The Baker men’s golf team had a lot of firsts last weekend when it traveled to Springfield, Mo., to compete in the Evangel University Tournament.
Freshman Chris Wilson placed first in the tournament individually and helped lead the Wildcats to a second place finish as a team.
Junior PJ Matulka scored a hole-in-one during the tournament.
“It was the first hole-in-one any of my college players have had in a tournament or even practice,” head coach Karen Exon said. “They don’t happen very often. There’s certainly a degree of skill needed, but there’s also a degree of just being fortunate.”
Wilson led the team with two consistent days, scoring 72 and 73 for a total of 145 strokes. Senior Michael Kahler followed his lead with 76 strokes both days for a total of 152.
Wilson said he made a goal for himself to win at least one tournament this spring season but didn’t expect it to come so soon.
“I played well in our tournaments in the fall, but I never actually won one,” Wilson said. “One of my goals this spring was to win at least one tournament, so it was great to do it first off.”
Just behind Kahler was freshman Adam Taylor with a combined total of 156 strokes, shooting 79 on the first day and 77 on the second.
The team was tied with Heart of America Athletic Conference rival Missouri Valley College at the end of the first day with combined totals of 313 but dropped 10 strokes the second day, ending with 620 to its 610.
“We were tied the first day, and we played really well as a team,” Taylor said. “Second place is always nice to get, but we were hoping to pull out a victory the second day, but some things just didn’t fall into place.”
Adding to the mix was sophomore Gavin Tatrn and junior Chase Day who ended both days with totals of 167 and 180 strokes, respectively.
“I was really pleased in general with the guys because everybody gave good effort,” Exon said. “They kind of had the same deal as the women in that they only had a couple good days of outside practice before the tournament.”
Wilson said the team had been working on putting throughout the winter, and it paid off during the first tournament.
“Putting is the most important thing in golf, and this week almost every one of us putted really well,” Wilson said. “That’s what makes or breaks you in golf. We all really improved on our putting indoors over the winter.”
Both the men’s and women’s teams hosted a tournament Wednesday and Thursday at Alvamar Golf Club in Lawrence. Results were unavailable at presstime.
The women’s team will have next week off. The men’s team plays in the Sterling College Nike Invitational on Sunday through Tuesday.