Marquette golfers might not have the fondest memories of their long weekend in Loveland, Ohio.
Difficult pin placements and inconsistent performances from their seniors led to a terrible third round Tuesday in the Xavier Invitational as the team shot 11-over, 299, which was 11 strokes higher than their previous high round.
"Coach Grogan was a little disappointed in us," said freshman Mike Van Sickle. "Your best day should be your last day, and we did completely the opposite."
No Marquette player shot better in the third round than sophomore Ted Gray's and Van Sickle's two-over, 74.
The players did not take their rough day lightly.
"We were just mad," Van Sickle said. "Mad, disappointed, frustrated; probably frustrated the most."
Led by Van Sickle and Gray's excellent early play, Marquette shot fairly well in the first day with a four-under, 284 first round and coming back in the afternoon with a respectable two-under, 286 in the second round. But with no one carrying the team in the third round, the team's score suffered greatly.
Seniors Nathan Colson (222, six-over), Joe Weber (230, 14-over) and Steve Sass ( 231, 15-over), struggled to find their game all tournament and ended up with disappointing scores.
Marquette finished the tournament five over, tied for eighth place with Eastern Michigan.
Austin Peay won the tournament in playoff over host Xavier. Both teams tied in regulation at 21-under. Louisville finished one stroke back, 20-under, good for third overall. No other teams finished within 16 strokes of the top three. Marquette beat both Austin Peay and Louisville en route to its first victory of the season at their last appearance, the Cardinal Intercollegiate.
Despite Van Sickle's uncharacteristic final round, he still finished the tournament tied for 9th individually at five-under, 211. He finished nine strokes in back of individual winner John Streibich of Xavier.
Gray finished 10 strokes back, tied for 12th individually at four-under, 212 for his best finish of the fall season.
Van Sickle and Gray's individual places in the tournament could have improved had they not finished their final rounds with double-bogeys on the 18th hole.
This is the first setback the team has endured this season, and the players are taking an optimistic perspective of how this tournament will affect their play the rest of the fall.
"(The Xavier Invitational) is over, you can't do anything about it," Van Sickle said. "But for the next tournament, this last day will really light a fire under our proverbial behinds. I think we will come out hot these next two tournaments."
Marquette will certainly get a chance to rebound in back-to-back tournaments later this month. They will play their next tournament, Hoya Invitational, Oct. 22-23 in Washington D.C., and then travel to Charlotte, N.C., to compete in the 49er Collegiate Classic Oct. 24-25.
Marquette may be looking at some lineup changes for the next two tournaments. Head Coach Tim Grogan has praised Kyle Murphy for his recent play and Murphy could receive a starting spot, but the qualifying tournament the team holds before every tournament will ultimately decide its top five.
This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on October 13, 2005.