Freshman Michael Heda tied a GW rookie record in his debut tournament, but it wasn’t enough to help the men’s golf team escape a last-place finish in its second tournament of the fall season.
Heda’s 68 in the third round of the Tuesday’s VCU shootout matched a Colonial rookie record held by 3 other Colonials – including teammate Jack Persons – and helped him move up 22 spots to finish tied for 29th overall. Unfortunately for GW, Heda was at the tournament competing as an individual, so his scores did not factor into the team’s total.
As a team, the Colonials finished with a three-round score of 940 (321-310-309), 99 strokes behind the winner, Virginia Tech – who finished 22 strokes ahead of second-place finisher Iowa State.
Head coach Chuck Scheinost, in his first year as head coach, said the struggles were partly because the team is “rebuilding” this year.
“We’ve got a new system we’re implementing and it’s taken a little bit of getting used to by everyone,” he said. “I think the freshmen are adjusting to it a little quicker.”
Freshman Lucas Farmer led the Colonials, alongside sophomore Steve Piela, both shooting a final round score of 3-over 75. Farmer would go onto finish 44th with a 9-over 225 (78-72-75), while Piela finished at 19-over 235 (80-80-75), good enough for 64th.
Scheinost said the team was unable to convert short-game opportunities.
“We’re really going to focus on our short game, getting up and down 120 yards,” he said.
Looking forward, the squad has a nearly month long break from action. Scheinost said the team will “focus on improving our accuracy off the tee,” and “converting opportunities for birdies.”
Scheinost is still confident for the rest of the season, saying that he sees the fall as a time to “get comfortable with the system” and that the team has the “talent to win the A-10 championship” in the spring.
Scheinost said he thinks the freshmen “will push the upperclassmen for spots the whole year.”
The Colonials’ next action will be at Old Dominion’s Outer Banks Intercollegiate Oct. 20 to 22.
