Men’s Golf Finishes 11th at Kuhn Memorial Invitational
MEADVILLE, Pa. – After the second and final day of Allegheny College's Guy and Jeanne Kuhn Memorial Invitational at the Country Club of Meadville on Monday, the Penn State Altoona men's golf team settled into 11th place out of 14 teams.
After shooting 322 as a team in Saturday's opening round, the Lions shaved two strokes off of their total on Monday to record a score of 320 and post a two-day combined score of 642. Penn State Altoona finished ahead of Westminster College (644), the Gannon University 'B' team (646), and Thiel College (672).
McDaniel College shot 295 on Monday to jump into first place, winning the invitational with a total score of 598. Mercyhurst University was the runner-up with 601, and the University of Rochester was third with 603.
Penn State Altoona was led by a strong effort from Carter Fischer (Bellefonte, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) in Monday's action. Fischer made par, shooting 72 for a 12-stroke improvement from his score in Saturday's round. His 72 represents his best score to date as a college golfer, and it was tied the for the second-lowest score of any golfer in Monday's round. Fischer compiled a two-day score of 156 to tie for 29th place individually out of 77 players in the invitational.
"This is the breakout round we've been waiting for from Carter. He has shown dedication since a disappointing round at Pitt-Bradford," said Penn State Altoona head coach Tom Koehle. "Carter at his best is a difference maker for this team."
Payton Guelich (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) had the Lions' second-best score on the day, showing a 10-stroke improvement from his score on Saturday to finish Monday's round with an 81. Guelich posted a combined score of 172.
Ethan Yohe (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) fired an 82, posting the second-best two-day score on the team with 158. That combined score placed him in a tie for 38th place individually.
Jimmy Gillespie (Glen Mills, PA/Garnet Valley) and Luke Hoffnagle (Spring Grove, PA/Spring Grove) each carded an 85 on Monday. Gillespie finished with a two-day score of 162, while Hoffnagle compiled a combined score of 170.
In light of the often heavy rain that moved through the area over the past several days, Koehle was more than pleased with the operation of the Allegheny Invitational.
"I can't say enough about the grounds staff at the Country Club of Meadville, head pro Michael Ferry, and Allegheny head coach Jeff Groff," said Koehle. "Despite the flooding rains, they were still able to provide a great experience and the entire scheduled 36-hole event."
Next up, Penn State Altoona will host its home invitational – the team's lone home event of the season – this Saturday, September 15 at Sinking Valley Country Club. The event, which will consist of several of the Lions' Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponents alongside some regional non-conference schools, is slated to get underway at 1:00 p.m.
"Our inconsistency is our Achilles' heel right now," Koehle said. "Hopefully, some home cooking this weekend gives us a boost of confidence and sets us on a new trajectory."
