BRADFORD, Pa. – Penn State Altoona men's golf got its 2018 schedule underway on Saturday, competing in the Pitt-Bradford Invitational at Pine Acres Country Club. The Lions tied for fifth place out of 16 teams, compiling a team score of 319.

Penn State Behrend's "blue" team won the event with a 301, while Pitt-Greensburg placed second with a score of 307. Grove City College was third with 316, and host school Pitt-Bradford placed fourth with 317. Penn State Altoona shared fifth place with La Roche College.

The Lions placed ahead of fellow Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponents Penn State Behrend ("white" team – 320 – seventh place), Mount Aloysius College (326 – ninth place), Medaille College (337 – 13th place), and D'Youville College (401, 16th place).

"I'm really proud of the guys for grinding today," said Penn State Altoona head coach Tom Koehle. "No one played to the best of their abilities, and we still managed to put a decent team round together."

Payton Guelich (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) led the way for the Lions, shooting 77 on the par 72 course to tie for eighth place out of 84 individual golfers. Jimmy Gillespie (Glen Mills, PA/Garnet Valley) carded a 79 to tie for 20th place, and Ethan Yohe (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) shot 80 to tie for 24th in his first collegiate round of golf.

"Payton played a fairly mistake-free round. Ethan was a 3-under through six but hit a tough stretch, but he showed how much potential he has," said Koehle. "We had a number of uncharacteristic mistakes and big numbers that kept us from contending today. If we can clean those mistakes up, I like the potential our team has."

Rounding out the Lions' five was Luke Hoffnagle (Spring Grove, PA/Spring Grove), who recorded an 83 to place 44th, and Carter Fischer (Bellefonte, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola), who shot 89 to tie for 65th place.

Penn State Altoona men's golf returns to action next Sunday, September 9 and Monday, September 10 to take part in the two-day Guy and Jeanne Kuhn Memorial Invitational, hosted by Allegheny College at the Meadville Country Club.