Photo: Penn State Altoona freshman Luke Hoffnagle led the Lions with a 76 on Monday to tie for sixth place individually.
Photo: Penn State Altoona freshman Luke Hoffnagle led the Lions with a 76 on Monday to tie for sixth place individually.

Lions Golf Places Sixth in Westminster Invitational

NEW CASTLE, Pa. - Penn State Altoona men's golf secured a sixth place finish out of 12 teams in Monday's Westminster College Invitational at the New Castle Country Club.

The Lions compiled a team score of 323. Grove City College won the event with 315, and Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference team Pitt-Bradford came in second with 317.

Penn State Altoona finished ahead of fellow AMCC teams La Roche College (8th Place - 327), Pitt-Greensburg (T-9th Place - 332), and Mount Aloysius College (11th Place - 358).

Luke Hoffnagle (Spring Grove, PA/Spring Grove) led the Lions by shooting four-over par, carding a 76 to tie for sixth place individually out of 73 golfers. Pongthong Thongyai (Patum Thani, Thailand/New Mexico Military Institute) shot a 77 to tie for ninth place.

"Once again, Luke and Pete led the way with solid rounds against a good regional field," said Penn State Altoona head golf coach Tom Koehle. "We had a shot at victory today, and we couldn't squeeze out a solid third and fourth score. The silver lining is that we were still competitive, even though we weren't at our best."

Jimmy Gillespie (Glen Mills, PA/Garnet Valley) finished the day with an 84, while Payton Guelich (Sandy Ridge, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) and Mateo Scott (Lima, Peru/Highlands International School) each shot 86.

Penn State Altoona golf continues its schedule next Monday, October 2 in the Penn State Behrend Invitational, held at Lawrence Park Golf Club in Erie.