Golf finishes successful season

The Mount Vernon Nazarene University men’s golf team has recorded four top-five finishes this spring season.

Sophomores Sam Romine and Kaden Welch and junior Sean Thomas have led the way for the Cougars.

The Cougars’ season was highlighted by a fifth-place finish at the Marian Invitational earlier this month.

Welch recorded a total score of 150 (76, 74), tying for 13th place. Romine was six shots behind Welch. He finished tied for 26th place.

In the Huntington University Forester Spring Invitational, Thomas finished third overall. His total score was 145 (73, 72). Welch, just two strokes behind Thomas, finished sixth overall.

In the MVNU Spring Classic, Romine finished tied for third place. His total score was 146 (74, 72).

“We saw a lot of positives this spring,” Romine said. “We grew and gained a lot of experience.”

The women’s team has one first-place finish and one second-place finish.

In the MVNU Spring Classic, senior Andrea Martin led the Cougars to the championship with a total score of 163 (84, 79). She finished first overall.

Senior Brittany Smith was just two strokes behind Martin (165; 86, 79), earning a second-place finish.

Sophomore Rachel Schroeder, senior Danielle Shaver, and freshman Olivia Albrecht finished in fourth, sixth, and seventh place, respectively.

At the Forester Spring Invitational, the ladies took second place. Smith led the way with a total score of 174 (81, 93). She finished tied for ninth place with Martin (174; 85, 89). Albrecht was just six strokes behind, tying for 13th place.

As the Cougars prepare for the conference championship, they will look for consistency and good attitudes.

“We’ve all had good rounds this spring, but haven’t put four rounds together. We haven’t reached our full potential as a team in terms of a team score,” Romine said.

The conference tournament will feature 36 holes and three rounds rather than 18 holes and two rounds, something the Cougars haven’t seen this season.

“We are all going to have some tough stretches where we don’t play our best, so it will be important that we grind those holes out and don’t let a few bad holes ruin our rounds,” Romine said.

“The team that minimizes those stretches and puts them behind them the quickest will be the team with the best chance to win,” he said.

The men’s Crossroads League Championships will be this week in Indiana. The women’s league tournament begins May 1 in Michigan.