The Marquette men’s golf team closed out an up-and-down autumn with one of its best finishes in years at the Wendy’s Kiawah Classic in Kiawah Island, S.C., Tuesday.
For the second time this season, the Golden Eagles placed in the top five, but this time may have been even more impressive than the team’s first place finish on Oct. 7.
In a field of 26 teams, Marquette finished fifth with an overall score of 896, beating out Wisconsin-Madison and fellow Big East teams St. John’s and Connecticut.
The team had a solid first round with junior Corey Konieczki and freshman Zach Gaugert leading the way. On the par 71 course, Gaugert finished even par and Konieczki one over.
Marquette’s fortunes changed in the second round, however, as disappointing rounds from each team member dug the Golden Eagles into a hole. Coach Steve Bailey said Tuesday that he would’ve been happy with a top 10 finish after that round.
While last year’s squad might’ve buckled, this year’s Marquette team bucked the trend again and pulled off an impressive third round.
After a 75 and a 79 in the first two rounds, respectively, freshman Patrick Sanchez finished two under in the third round, while freshman Nick Nelson finished even par, and Konieczki rebounded from a second round 78 with another 72.
“I think it’s a great way to end the fall season,” Bailey said. “Coming back from the second round, the way they were able to close the deal with toughness in difficult conditions was impressive.”
In the recent past, the Golden Eagles have had a hard time closing out tournaments. All too often, the team let bad rounds get the best of them mentally and dominate their mindsets the rest of the way. That wasn’t the case this week, Bailey said.
“We’ve been talking mental toughness all fall,” Bailey said. “It’s about controlling what you can control and working through what you can’t. It was a little cold and quite windy all week, but we did a good job not letting a bad shot affect the next one.”
Bailey pointed to Sanchez’s effort as the epitome of the team’s overall performance.
“He started off struggling to keep his focus and had a tough time committing to shots,” Bailey said. “He was able to overcome that in the final round. To turn things around like he did, we’ve known how talented he is, but he stepped up big for us today.”
Sanchez admitted he just wasn’t himself in the first two rounds, but he was able to keep himself in it. A lot of that came from experience with windy conditions.
“In the first round, I didn’t play very well, and I don’t think I was as patient as I could’ve been,” Sanchez said. “In the third round, I committed to every single shot and was myself. My ball striking was pretty good, and my mental game was really good toward the end. I did well controlling ball flight into the wind since I’m used to it, being from Mexico and the West Coast.”
As a whole, Bailey was pleased with the way his team putted, even though he said the course’s greens were easier than usual. To him, the tournaments were the continuation of the common theme of the fall and forward into the spring.
“It’s just going back to creating that positive energy,” Bailey said. “It’s about having the guys hungry to get better every day. By no way are we satisfied, and we’re ready to put in a lot more work. Everyone’s excited and energized for the spring.”
