The Marquette golf team finished 11th out of 15 teams this weekend at the Windon Memorial Classic. While youth power was the common theme last weekend for the Golden Eagles, this tournament was a reversion back to upperclassmen leadership.
The team finished 69 over par and shot a 921 overall, keeping its scores for each round right around 300.
Senior Ryan Prickette led Marquette finishing 14 over par in a tie for 35th place on the individual leaderboard. Prickette shot a 74 in the first round, then struggled with a 77 in the second before rounding out his score with a 76 in the third and final round.
Prickette said his putting could’ve been much better, but his experience with windy conditions gave him an advantage.
“My ball flight is a little bit different from a lot of the guys’,” Prickette said. “I have lower trajectory and it helps keep it under the wind. I hit the ball really well this weekend, but I feel like I could’ve putted better. I just kind of have to go back to drawing board and work on my putting game.”
Junior Corey Konieczki’s performance stood out most to coach Steve Bailey, especially after Konieczki didn’t make the lineup last week.
“I was really proud of Corey’s final round this weekend with him being one of our few upperclassmen,” Bailey said. “I felt like he was trying to make a statement that he belongs out there, and did a great job controlling his golf ball down the stretch.”
Konieczki struggled early with scores of 78 in both the first and second rounds before closing out nicely with a one over par 72 in the final round. He finished second on the team in a tie for 37th on the individual leaderboard at 15 over par.
Unlike Prickette, Konieczki said he felt good about his putting and that especially in the final round he had converted on some good up-and-downs and made some really good pars. As for the freshmen, who struggled with the wind, Konieczki said they were still young and will continue to get better with each tournament.
And the Windon in particular, Bailey said was one of the most challenging the team will play all year.
“These were the fastest greens we’ll play all year,” Bailey said. “I think too often this weekend we didn’t execute, and we struggled when we shortsighted ourselves. We also had to play a lot of really tough teams including some of the best we’ll play all year long.”
Zach Gaugert was the lowest scoring freshman for Marquette finishing at 18 over par in a tie for 46th place individually.
Bailey said the weather conditions definitely took a toll on his younger players but that there was still little room for excuses due to the team’s experience playing and practicing in the Midwest. Going forward Bailey hopes to see improvement with the team’s ball control.
“We are just going to focus on getting better control over our golf balls in adverse conditions,” Bailey said. “We’re used to these types of conditions and courses playing in the Midwest, but we missed our shots in the wrong places this weekend, and when you do that you can get lost pretty easily.”
