SANTEE, Calif. The Army golf team opened its spring season with a 10th-place finish, Monday and Tuesday at the rain-shortened Carlton Oaks Invitational.
The 12-team event, originally scheduled to be 54 holes, was hampered by heavy rains and wind. The 36 holes scheduled to play on Monday was reduced to 18 holes at the Carlton Oaks Country Club.
Western Illinois won the event with a 301-295596, edging day one leader Drake (299-300599). Sam Cyr of Point Loma was the medalist with a 74-70144.
“It was tough conditions and the wind was blowing pretty good,” said Army head golf coach Jimmy Ray Clevenger. “There was lots of standing water and the water on greens made it tough. I thought some players stepped up. We’re not playing great but coming from just hitting balls at the range and indoor facility made it difficult. On top of that, it wasn’t easy playing in difficult conditions and that probably gave us a higher score.”
Playing on a course for the first time this spring, Matt Krembel paced the Black Knights. The sophomore opened with a 75 on Monday and shot a team-best 78 on Tuesday.
Austin Rhymer, playing in his first tournament of the season, shaved two strokes off his Monday and score and finished at 160 with 18s of 81-79. James Raymond shot 79-85 to finish four strokes behind Rhymer.
Sam Walenz shot an 81-87168 while William Park completed the Black Knights contingent with an 84-85169.
“We’re trying to find out where our team is at,” said Clevenger. “We’ll get ourselves ready for the next event and start working on a lineup before April. We want to get our guys to peak around Patriot League Championship time. We’re still a long ways away. I wished we played better but we didn’t and we struggled a little bit. Part of that is finding what our lineup is. We have some guys at home that we’ll put in lineup next tournament and make some determinations at that point. No one is safe in reference to the lineup.”
Army will play its second event of the spring March 2 and 3 at the Argonaut Invitational in Pensacola, Fla.
Tournament Notes: Army was scheduled to fly out of California at 10:49 p.m. with a stop over in Atlanta. The scheduled arrival was 9:40 a.m. in Newark, N.J. on Wednesday ... Army pushed back its tee times on Tuesday to accommodate schools that had earlier flights. “It’s the luck of the draw,” said Clevenger. “Sometimes we get lucky but it’s common for schools with later flights to switch. This week, we caught rain both days.” ... Army, which utilized the Groves Golf Training Facility and a local driving range during the winter months, practiced on Saturday in California and played a practice round on Sunday.
Carlton Oaks Collegiate Santee, Calif. Final Team Scores 1. Western Illinois 301-295596 2. Drake 299-300599 t3. Point Loma 305-295600 t3. Cal State Bakersfield 301-299600 5. North Dakota State 308-301609 6. Cal Poly 306-305611 7. Utah Valley 312-320632 8. Bradley 320-316636 8. Cal State San Marcos 318-318636 10. Army 316-327643 11. Biola 335-311646 12. North Dakota 325-337662
10. Army (316-327643) T15 Matt Krembel 75-78153 T38 Austin Rhymer 81-79160 T52 James Raymond 79-85164 T59 Sam Walenz 81-87168 62 William Park 84-85169
