WEST LAFAYETTE, Ohio – The Capital University men's golf team saw their final action of the season this past weekend, competing at the OAC Men's Golf Championships. The Comets showed a strong effort despite soggy conditions and against rough circumstances. In the end, CU would finish fifth in the nine-team field – just one stroke behind fourth-place Heidelberg – with a team score of 909 after three rounds, with the fourth round being cancelled due to poor course conditions.
ROUND ONE: 295 | TOTAL: 295
The Purple and White would put themselves in good position during round one on Friday, tied for fourth at 295 and just six strokes behind the leaders.
Cole Crandall got off to a hot start, shooting an even-par 72 to put himself in contention on the individual side of things.
Keegan Billingham was right behind with a 73 that included an eagle, followed by
Ryan Murphy at 74.
Cam Donahue came in at 76.
Adam Murphy finished his round with an 82.
ROUND TWO: 311 | TOTAL: 606
Cap continued to put up good scores as round two got underway on Friday with the front nine. However as the rain started to fall on Saturday, the back nine became a whole different ball game, leading to a team score of 311 for a 36-hole total of 606. Once again Crandall led with a team-low of 74 featuring six birdies. Donahue had a 78 with four birdies to follow.
Adam Murphy finished his round at 79 with five birdies and an eagle. Billinham also eagled – his second in as many rounds, tying him for the most in the tournament – as he finished even with
Ryan Murphy at 80 to split the counted round.
ROUND THREE: 303 | TOTAL: 909
Capital was only able to get nine holes of round three in before Saturday's showers turned into a monsoon and washed away the rest of the day. Forced to finish up round three on Sunday, the decision was made to cancel the fourth round, leaving the tournament at just 54 holes instead of the normal 72 and unfortunately cutting back on the Comets' chances to make up some ground and possibly compete for a spot on the podium. All-in-all the Purple and White would finish fifth, shooting 303 in the final round for a total of 909.
Crandall and Billingham both led the way with a 75 each. Crandall finished in All-OAC position at T-6th with a 54-hole total of 221. He also led the tournament with 40 total pars, shooting top-three on par threes and top-six on par fours. Billingham made his way into T-17th with a total of 228. He led the field with two eagles and shot the best on par fives.
Ryan Murphy finished T-24th with a total of 231, shooting 77 in the final round.
Cam Donahue came in at T-27th with a 78 for round three and a total of 232. He shot top-five in the field on par threes and finished top-seven with 33 pars. Finally,
Adam Murphy finished T-34th with a total of 237 after shooting his best of the three rounds at 76.
COMMENTS FROM COACH GARCIA
"Really proud of all of these guys. One through five they all played extremely well all week, just got some really unfortunate luck with the weather on Saturday. We played 45 great holes of golf and then unfortunately nine holes into round three a monsoon and unplayable conditions ruined our year, but that's golf. Course conditions aside, we fought hard for our university but it just wasn't our week. Cole was incredible, so proud of his play this week. We will rebuild with an amazing recruiting class and awesome returners and make all of our alumni proud. Rings and trophies collect dust but the memories made will last a lifetime and that's what it's all about."
