After three hard-fought days in Verona, Wisconsin, head coach Steve Bailey and the Marquette men’s golf team finished fifth (294-292-281-867, 7-under-par) at the Badger Invitational.
Sophomore Hunter Eichhorn led the Golden Eagles after finishing tied for third overall (71-69-68-208, 8-under-par).
“I had some little tough patches this week that my short game (kind of) bailed me out on,” Eichhorn said. “I made some good putts to get some momentum going that last day and just kept it rolling.”
Eichhorn is coming off of his incredible freshman season. The then-freshman finished his first season with Marquette as the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year as well as the BIG EAST Player of the Year.
Oliver Farrell also chipped in for the Golden Eagles, notching a 10th overall finish (72-75-68-215, 1-under-par). The senior from England placed in the top 10 individually of every invitational since last October.
“It was great to get off to a solid start to the season,” Farrell said. “The last round was a very good round. The first two rounds were really close and then I think I just put it together in the last round. I’m feeling really optimistic heading into this week.”
Course conditions are always a factor in the game of golf, forcing Eichhorn and his teammates to make adjustments.
“They let the rough go because it’s been wet, so if you didn’t drive it in the fairway, it was tough,” Eichhorn said. “Around the greens, it was tough to get up and down if you were in the wrong spots. It was a good test.”
The Illinois State Redbirds won the invitational (287-285-283-855, 9-under-par) and were led by Dave Perkins, who tied Eichhorn for third place (74-65-69-208, 8-under-par).
The Golden Eagles now look ahead to the Northern Intercollegiate Invitational, hosted by the Northern Illinois Huskies. That invite will take place in Sugar Grove, Illinois, and start Sept. 15. And it won’t be the first time that the Golden Eagles have participated in this invitational. Just last year, Marquette had a very strong performance and looks to repeat themselves in the coming days.
“On the course, you could just see the energy that everybody had,” Farrell said. “You could tell that everyone was making birdies. Everyone was just feeding off of everybody and it was just a really fun week.”
