Men’s Golf Holds First Place After Day One of AMCCs
BUTLER, Pa. – By the conclusion of the first round of the two-day Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Championships on Monday at Butler Country Club, the Penn State Altoona men's golf team found itself in the top spot on the team leaderboard.
The Lions shot 324 as a team to place first after the opening round of the championships. Penn State Behrend was in second place with 330, and Pitt-Greensburg held third place with 343. The teams battled the wind throughout the day, resulting in challenging playing conditions.
"Mother Nature won today. There were consistent winds all day, all scores were higher than usual, and we were no exception," said Penn State Altoona head coach Tom Koehle. "However, guys were able to maintain a good attitude and come in to the lead heading into tomorrow. It's a good position to be in, and it's the reason why we worked hard all fall."
Penn State Altoona's Andrew Ferguson (Altoona, PA/Tyrone) was the top performer on the day, shooting 77 on the par 71 course to claim first place individually out of 40 golfers. Logan Divald (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) finished the day tied for fourth place after carding an 81, and Trey Heffelfinger (Mount Union, PA/Mount Union) was in a tie for sixth place with 82.
Iain Murphy-Herndon (Oldsmar, FL/Saddlebrook Prep) shot 84 to tie for 10th place individually, and Joey Toth (South Park, PA/South Park) shot 90 to tie for 22nd place.
"I'm thrilled for Andrew to carry a two-shot lead into tomorrow. There's no harder worker than Andrew, and I'm sure he's comfortable with the position he's in," said Koehle. "Logan, Trey, and Iain also finished in the top 10, and a good round tomorrow could see them earn All-Tournament team honors."
Play resumes with the second and final round of the AMCC Championships tomorrow, Tuesday, October 19 at 9:00 a.m. With a strong finish, Penn State Altoona could be poised to secure its sixth conference title.
"Our main focus is to do what we've been doing all year, which is to control what we can control and focus on our own games," said Koehle. "If we get off to a good start, it'll set the tone for the rest of the day."
