Indiana men’s golf continued its season with a 13th place finish Sept. 29-30 at the Windon Memorial Classic at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Conway Farms Golf Club proved to be a tough challenge for the Hoosiers. The team of sophomore Cole Starnes, redshirt junior Clay Merchent, freshman Bradley Chill, sophomore Alec Cesare and sophomore Nick Piesen scored a combined 33-over-par, 885 strokes after three rounds of stroke play on the 7233-yd. par-71 golf course. The Hoosiers finished nine shots back from a top ten finish and 43 strokes behind first place University of Arizona, who shot an 842.
The Hoosiers finished the first round of the three-round tournament in a tie for sixth place with Marquette University at six over par.
Merchent was the lowest scoring Hoosier on day one with an even-par 71, which included three birdies on his round. The redshirt junior sat tied for 15th place after round one.
Other scoring players for round one were Chill with 72, Starnes with 73 and Cesare with 74.
The Hoosiers were not able to improve on their six over par in round one. Instead, the team shot 15 over par, putting them in 10th place and 21 over par for the tournament heading into the final round.
Starnes scored a two-under-par 69 in round two. After a bogey on the fifth hole, Starnes made birdies on holes four, nine and 11, putting himself at even par and tied for 11th place for the tournament after 36 holes.
Merchent slid down the leaderboard with six-over 77 in round two, along with Cesare. Chill carded a 76.
Conway Farms once again proved to be a tough course for the Hoosiers in the final round of play. The Hoosiers shot a final round 296, only three strokes better than their second round 299.
Starnes was the highest finisher for the Hoosiers with a tie for 17th place out of 88 total competitors. He scored a 73 in the final round, 215 in total for the tournament.
Merchent bounced back from his second round 77 with a one-under 70 in the final round, which included two birdies and an eagle on the par-5 eighth hole. Merchent finished the tournament with a score of 218 in a tie for 25th place.
Chill finished in a tie for 64th place with a score of 227. Cesare carded a 229, which put him in a tie for 73rd place, while Nick Piesen was tied for 83rd after shooting a 232 for the tournament.
Redshirt senior Robert Bender III, who only competed as an individual, completed the tournament in a tie for 70th. Bender III was able to come back after a 10-over-par 81 in round one with a 72-75 in rounds two and three. Bender III finished with a 15-over 224.
The Hoosiers’ finish of 13th was the worst finish so far for the team this season after they placed ninth in the Visit Knoxville Collegiate and first at the Purdue Fall Invitational. The Hoosiers will look to bounce back at The Indy at Forest Hills Country Club on Oct. 4 in Richmond, Indiana.
