The University of Indianapolis men’s and women’s golf teams competed in the Butler Fall Invitational on Oct. 5- 6. The men came in second, while the women took first place.
The men’s team finished round three with the lowest team score, 274. UIndy finished the invitational with a total score of 851, only 12 points behind the first place winner Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis who finished with an 839.
Head Golf Coach Brent Nicoson said he was glad for the improvements the men’s team made from the first round.
“The men did not start off very well, but I’m very proud of them,” Nicoson said. “Probably more proud of their final round than I’ve ever been for anyone else.”
One highlight of the two days was the lowest score in the history of UIndy men’s golf, when sophomore Graham McAree earned a score of 64 in the final round. McAree also nearly broke the record for the lowest score relative to par on the program, missing that by one stroke.
McAree said that the new record was a much-needed victory.
“It was awesome,” McAree said. “I was so excited. I needed it, too, because I wasn’t playing too well the first two rounds, and we have Florida coming up this weekend. So I wanted to put together a decent round. And I started off not-too-great but then made a couple [of] birdies and actually holed out from 137 yards for [an] eagle. Once I made that, I knew it was going to be a special day and ended up birdieing my last hole to shoot 64.”
Out of the 42 golfers in the men’s tournament, McAree ended up taking third. Junior Andrew VanAelst came in eighth, and freshman Christopher Heck settled into 20th. Sophomore Zach Gurtner took 27th, and junior Evan Stoker placed 33rd.
Freshman Reid Lorey matched VanAelst for eighth place among the individual competitors. Following Lorey was sophomore Brady Sappenfield, 28th; junior Trae Cole, 35th; senior Jon Williams, 40th and sophomore Jackson Wright, 42nd.
The women’s team has now placed first in both of the fall invitationals, the UIndy Fall Invitational and the Butler Fall Invitational.
At Butler, the Greyhounds faced 10 other teams, six of which were from Division I schools. Nicoson said that although the team has played well, there is still room for improvement.
“The women’s [team] has been pretty solid,” he said. “We’ve won two in a row, and I can’t ask for much more than that. We still need to clean up some things and still get better, for sure, but I’m pretty happy with our start.”
Freshman Katharina Keilich tied for first place against Butler’s freshman Lauren Tibbets. Although the two were officially co-medalist, they duked it out in a sudden-death match, Tibbets came out on top.
Sophomore Annika Haynes and senior Brooke Beegle finished in a three-way tie for third along with IUPUI’s junior MeKenzie Hilsmeyer. Sophomore Kylie Raines shared 17th, and sophomore Paxton DeHaven tied for 24th.
In the individual competition, senior Molly Ward placed eighth, and freshman Kennedy Holtsclaw tied for 29th, sophomore Karli LaGrotte tied for 35th, and senior Ashtyn Brown tied 39th.
Beegle said that winning the Butler Fall Invitational was a significant win.
“It was an awesome feeling, just because it was a lot of Division I schools,” she said. “I know we didn’t necessarily play our best golf, so it’s kind of encouraging to still be able to win when not all five of us are playing at our best. It’s definitely a good confidence booster going into this next tournament.”
The men’s and women’s golf teams competed in the Guy Harvey Invitational on Monday, Oct. 12, and Tuesday, Oct. 13. This was the last invitational of the fall season for the men. The women’s next competition will take place in Dayton, Ohio, Oct. 19-20, at the Dayton Fall Invitational.
