Lincoln College Men's Golf

[April 06, 2016]  The Lincoln College Men's Golf Team competed in their first tournament this past Sunday and Monday at Kokopelli Golf Course in Marion. Other competitors included teams from Rend Lake College, Lewis and Clark, and John A Logan.

Log book Day 1 - Day 1 is in the books for the Lincoln College men's golf team competing in their first tournament of the year at Kokopelli Golf Course in Marion, along with Rend Lake College, Lewis & Clark, and the host school John A. Logan.

The tournament got a little later start this morning due to frost on the greens. The sun did shine all day, but the 15-20mph winds made conditions very challenging for the Lynx.

This was the first time any of the players saw the course, so that also added to the challenge. The greens were in excellent condition and were lightning fast for early spring.

First-year player and semester-break transfer student Jordan Nelson finished the track with a respectable 43/40=83 after starting the day even par after five holes with a birdie on the 307-yard par-4 2nd hole and a solid bogey save from the hazard and the greenside bunker on the 414-yard par four 4th hole.

Freshman Hunter Bettis struggled to a 44/45=89 but finished with a nice par on the 515-yard par-5 18th hole which played dead into the stiff breeze. Freshman Hunter Leach also shot 44/45=89 for the Lynx. Leach started strong but ran into trouble on the 137-yard par-3 5th hole. A solid 8-iron found the back bunker where Leach had a difficult time escaping.

Freshman Brandon Savage finished the day with a 46/46=92. Rounding out the scores for the Lynx was Freshman Cody Curry with a 48/48=96.

Monday's round is scheduled to start at 8:00 a.m., but may be pushed back again if overnight temperatures drop to the lower 30's causing another frost delay.

Head coach Jeff Nelson said of the first round, "Overall, I was pleased with the guys' attitudes on the course. Clearly the scores are not indicative of the type of golfers we have, but I was happy to see my guys continue to grind out every shot on an unfamiliar course in tough conditions. I'm looking forward to seeing how our guys bounce back tomorrow morning and improve on their scores."

Log Book Day 2 - Day 2 at Kokopelli Golf Course in Marion, was a much better day weather-wise. No morning frost allowed the players to begin on time with temperatures near 50 degrees and to top out around 65 at mid-day. The winds picked up as the day went on, but overall the weather was not much of a factor.

Freshman Hunter Bettis finished with a solid 40/40=80 piping his drives down the middle and hitting 14-of-18 greens in regulation. Bettis couldn't get the flat-stick going however and finished the 2-day tournament without a single birdie.

Senior Jordan Nelson fired a strong 39 on the front side but struggled on the back nine after finding the hazard twice on the difficult 550-yard par-5 12th hole.

Freshman Hunter Leach shot five shots better on Day 2 with a 5-over 40 on the front and lost it a bit on the back side with a 44 (84). Leach also found the par-5 12th hole as a thorn in the side. After driving it into one of the eight church-pew style fairway bunkers, his 3rd shot also found the greenside bunker leading to a double-bogey. Leach finished the day strong with pars on three of his final five holes including a par on the 525-yard par-5 finishing hole.

Freshman Brandon Savage played much better on Day 2 of his first tournament for the Lynx finishing eight shots ahead of his first-day score. Savage's 44/40=80 was good for a two-day total of 176. Freshman Cody Curry rounded out the Lynx score with a 43/56=99.

2-Day Total Scores:
Jordan Nelson - 83 85 - 168
Hunter Bettis - 89 80 - 169
Hunter Leach - 89 84 - 173
Brandon Savage - 92 84 - 176
Cody Curry - 96 99 - 195

The Lynx will be back on the course for another 36-hole event at the Weist Foundation Classic hosted by Millikin University on April 14th and 15th. Day one will be at Hickory Point Golf Club in Decatur, at 1:00 .pm. Day two will be played at Red Tail Run Golf Club in Decatur, at 9:00 a.m.

[Coach Jeff Nelson]