The men’s golf team placed second at the Lake Charles Invitational tournament which wrapped up Tuesday evening in Louisiana. Marquette finished two strokes under par through two days of competitive play.
Freshman Hunter Eichhorn and sophomore Matt Murlick had a top ten finish for the Golden Eagles as Eichhorn finished with five strokes under par (211) and Murlick finished with four strokes under par (212).
Head Coach Steve Bailey was impressed with his team’s overall play throughout the two-day invitational. Although Coach Bailey gave lots of credit to the two top 10 finishers in Eichhorn and Murlick, Bailey was pleased with the team’s overall team effort.
“They really helped our team shoot under par,” Bailey said. “Overall, we had two rounds at par or better as a team and finished second, and we lead the field in birdies for the week.”
Eichhorn came away four strokes behind his career best of nine strokes under par. The former BIG EAST Golfer of the Week posted his career day earlier in the Fall at Price’s Give ‘Em Five Invitational at Butterfield Trail in El Paso, Texas.
Murlick finished the tournament just four strokes behind his career best as well at eight strokes under par. The 2017 All-BIG EAST second team member achieved that accolade in last fall as well at the Badger Invitational University Ridge in Verona, Wisconsin.
Jack Tolson (15 strokes under par, 201) of Louisiana-Lafayette won the event as the Ragin’ Cajuns also took home the team title, shooting 14 strokes under par as a team. Coach Bailey credited Tolson’s impressive performance for the Ragin’ Cajuns dominant victory.
“When you have a guy shoot 15-under by himself, that’s going to do it,” Coach Bailey said. “They just played really solid down the stretch. We made a couple of runs kind of in the middle of the round and they didn’t crack at all.”
Marquette’s second-place finish came off of an impressive fall season performance in which the Golden Eagles were nationally ranked for the first time in program history. Next up, Marquette will travel to Augusta, Georgia for the 3M Augusta Invitational to be played at Forest Hills Golf Club. Coach Bailey is ready to see if his squad can continue a hot start to the spring season.
“We’re just excited to compete again,” Bailey said. “To do it at a venue like (Augusta) will be fun. There are a lot of really good teams this week, so it’s a chance for us to get out and compete again. It’s a great opportunity for our team to continue to improve.”
