April 12, 2009
Columbus, Ohio - The Penn State men's golf team completed their third tournament of the spring season this afternoon in Columbus, Ohio. The Nittany Lions placed 11th at the 40th annual Robert Kepler Intercollegiate tournament, hosted by the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The Lions carded three rounds of 316-310-311 (937) to finish at 85-over par. The final 18 holes of the two-day, 54-hole tournament were played under sunny and clear skies with temperatures nearly reaching 60 degrees.
Junior T.J. Howe (Osceola, Pa.) continued to lead the Lions throughout the spring season as he finished at 19-over par, tying for 34th place. Howe recorded rounds of 79-75-78 (232), only 14 strokes behind the tournament leader, Brad Wright. Wright of Ohio State won the tournament at five-over par (218).
Junior Kevin Foley (Sommerville, N.J.) carded rounds of 80-78-76 (234) for a 21-over par tournament total and a 39th place finish. His third and final round was his lowest of the two days tying tournament champion Wright. Senior Chad Bricker (Waynesboro, Pa.) tallied in at 23-over par (236) with rounds of 78-80-78, tying for 48th place. The Kepler Intercollegiate was the first tournament Bricker competed in sense Big Ten Match Play, where he led the Lions, winning all three of his match-play matches.
Freshmen Nick Archambault (Q.C., Canada) continued to play well from his second round into his third round with a 79 on the day. Archambault carded rounds of 81-78-79 (238) to finish tied for 55th place at 25-over par. Senior Jim Markovitz (Bridgeville, Pa.) played through some tough holes today to finish at 82, a 27-over par tournament total. Markovitz carded rounds of 79-79-82.
Northwestern took the title at 40-over par (892). The Scarlet Course proved lucky to some as Northwestern's Eric Chun and Temple's Andrew Mason shot hole-in-ones of the par 3, 221-yard No. 13.
"Today we were not able to put yesterday play behind us," said head coach Greg Nye. "It was a tough result, and we will need to quickly move on and prepare for a tough challenge at Purdue's Kampen Course next weekend."
The Nittany Lions will practice for a few days and will head back out into competition play on Saturday, April 18th for the Boilermaker Invitational in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Boilermaker Invitational is the last tournament for the Nittany Lions before the Big Ten Championships, which the Lions will be hosting at their home Blue Course, May 1-3.
Team Standings and Scores
Individual Scores
Penn State Team Scores