Harrisburg, PA – The Cairn University Golf team opened their fall season at Blue Ridge Country Club for the Messiah College Fall Invitational. The Highlanders finished 13th out of 15 schools, shooting a team total of 373 (+85).
Results Senior Ian Zang led the Highlanders with a low score of 87 (+15) which placed him tied for 36thplace. Freshman Mike Boucher finished tied for 57th shooting a (+20) 92 in his collegiate debut. Josiah Buss finished in 66th place in his first round of the fall shooting a 96 (+24) on the day. Sophomore, Adam Green finished right behind Buss shooting a 98 (+26) placing him tied for 67th place. Senior Matthew Rhodes, completed the Highlanders round coming in 74th, while shooting a 109 (+37) in his first action of the young season. "I thought the guys did good for their first match of the season, said Head Coach Dave Hill. A couple of the guys it was their first collegiate match so that played into the scores quite a bit but they were confident in their swings and executed it well. We saw the areas that we will need to work on and will spend the next few days working on those areas to get ready for 3 match stretch starting on Sunday." However, the day belonged to the Falcons as they had four golfers finish within the top 10, and shot overall teams score of 303 (+15). Messiah was led by Jordan Kirsch who shot a (-2) 70 to take first place, and Nate Haney who shot a (+3) 75 to finish in second place.
Ian Zang had this to say about the day: "Tough day, course had very tight fairways which is very different from the links style course that we practice on. The greens were extremely slippery and fast with any putt from above the hole almost guaranteeing a three putt. With having a couple new players it was good to get everyone's feet wet and start off the season. I definitely expect that we'll shoot much lower this weekend especially since we'll be able to play the course twice and get a better feel for it." The Highlanders will be back on the links starting Sunday, as they will be participating in a two day tournament hosted by Penn State-Harrisburg, to be held at Dauphin Highlands Golf Course in Middletown, PA.
