Men’s Golf Takes Third at Penn State Altoona Invitational
ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's golf program hosted its home invitational on Saturday afternoon at Sinking Valley Country Club, representing the first of the two-day Mountain Valley Collegiate Classic.
The Lions' 'A' team shot 322 to place third out of 15 teams, while the 'B' squad combined to shoot 330 to secure seventh place.
Penn State Behrend and Pitt-Bradford ranked atop the pack, as each team posted a combined score of 310. Bradford took the title of first place after a pair of tiebreakers were applied to settle the day's champion.
Penn State Altoona finished ahead of several Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponents, including La Roche University (fourth place, 324), Medaille College (ninth place, 346), Mount Aloysius College (11th place, 360), Hilbert College (14th place, 369), and Pitt-Greensburg (15th place, 416).
"Sinking Valley got the best of the field today," said Penn State Altoona head coach Tom Koehle. "The course played firm, fast, and the pins were challenging. Kudos to Bradford and Behrend on a well-played team round."
Leading the way for Penn State Altoona's top squad was Ethan Yohe (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional), who fired a season-low 76 to tie for third place out of 81 individuals on the day.
"Ethan had a brutal start – 5-over through his first four holes. But he played 1-under the rest of the way, the way he and I expect him to play," said Koehle. "I'm hoping this is the catalyst to him having a great rest of the year."
Jimmy Gillespie (Glen Mills, PA/Garnet Valley) and Jacob Mrvos (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) each shot 81 to tie for 19th place individually. Ryan Marshall (Pittsburgh, PA/Peters Township) carded an 84 to tie for 33rd place, and Luke Hoffnagle (York, PA/Spring Grove) rounded out Penn State Altoona's top five with an 88 to tie for 45th place.
Aaron Horvat (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) had the Lions' 'B' team's lowest score, shooting a season-best 77 to tie for fifth place individually.
"Aaron played a great round, and it speaks to the depth our team has," Koehle stated. "Anyone in our program is capable of challenging the top five of the lineup, and Aaron took advantage of a great round today."
Cole Mori (Annapolis, MD/Annapolis Area Christian School) tied for 19th place with an 81, and Frankie Guinan (Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts) and Grant Molloy (Ambler, PA/Upper Dublin) each shot 86 to tie for 37th place. Brian Snyder (Sunbury, PA/Shikellamy) finished with an 89 to complete the Lions' lineup.
Penn State Altoona competes in the second round of the Mountain Valley Collegiate Classic tomorrow, Sunday, September 22, as the Lions play in the Mount Aloysius College Invitational at Summit Country Club. Tee times are set for 12:00 p.m.
"We are excited to have an opportunity to play again tomorrow, back up today's play, and try to continue to improve heading into our closing stretch of the fall season," said Koehle.
The team which competed in both days of the Mountain Valley Collegiate Classic and finishes with the lowest combined score will be crowned the event's champion.
