Senior shines in golf tournament

Home Sports Senior shines in golf tournament

In their second collegiate appearance, the Charger golf team finished in last place, but saw high individual rankings.

The final team score for the weekend at the Al Watrous Memorial Tournament hosted by Saginaw Valley State University was 626, earning the team eighth place out of eight teams. Senior co-captain Matt Chalberg led the team in the individual’s competition with an impressive 15th place finish out of 60 golfers.

Chalberg was the low scorer for both Saturday and Sunday’s rounds, posting scores of 75 and 73 for a total of 148.

“He is just very strong mentally,” Coach Gilchrist said of Chalberg, echoing head coach Mike Harner’s praise for his captain.

This mental maturity paid off for Chalberg. He missed only three greens in regulation on Sunday, posted an eagle for the second week in a row, and again flirted with a hole-in-one.

His eagle came on the third hole – a 400-yard par 4.

“With three fairway bunkers in the landing zone and a dog leg right, I hit a five wood to 145 yards out,” Chalberg said.

He said he could see the pin, but not the hole. With the wind in his face on the second shot, Chalberg “clubbed up and hit it well,” right on line.

“I turned around and one of the other guys I was playing with just had his arms raised up. I asked if it went in and he said ‘Yeah!’” Chalberg recounted.

Steve Sartore finished with a score of 160. Logan Kauffman shot a 161 and Joe Torres finished close behind with a 162. Ben Meola scored a 169.

In terms of team play, on Sunday the team cut 14 strokes off their collective score from Saturday.

Assistant Coach Nate Gilchrist, Chalberg, and Meola all attribute this to a greater familiarity with the course and improved playing conditions.

Chalberg noted that on the second day, the team “played within their means and played to their strengths,” overcoming the nerves that accompany the first day of play and the poor decisions that result.

Coach Gilchrist emphasized that the coaches aren’t at all disappointed in this week’s play and stressed the period of adjustment necessary for the players to ease into golf at the collegiate level, which requires balancing school work with practices, a travel schedule, and life in a hotel.

Gilchrist noted that one of the biggest adjustments is playing against equally skilled players from other schools.

“All of [the Chargers] were great in their conference but they were alone. Now they’re around others who are great,” he said.

Despite a difficult transition, Meola says that he has “enjoyed the challenge,” in true Hillsdale fashion, and that “the future is bright.”

“[The team’s] assessment of themselves is very honest. They know what they are capable of and they’ve got good perspective,” Gilchrist said. “As people, they are doing an exceptional job and they are doing a great job representing the College.”

The men will continue to represent the college next weekend. On Sept. 20 the team will play in the GLIAC North Fall Invitational at Benton Harbor and will travel to Southfield on Sept. 22 to compete in the Lawrence Tech Fall Invitational.