Mountaineers Finish 8th at Wind-Blown UMHB Invitational

Sophomore Kyle Grona led Schreiner to an 8th place finish in the 15-team UHMB Invitational at wind- ravaged Wildflower GC in Temple, TX.  Grona finished in 19th place overall and was SU's low scorer each day but the real story of the two-day tournament was the wind.

High winds hammered the tournament on the first day, but the affects were lessened because of unusually warm temperatures.  The Mountaineers, featuring three freshman and two sophomores, were in seventh place after the first day with a total of 330.  Grona's 78 was SU's best score.

On the second day, the winds whipped up even more, the temperatures plummeted and the scores - already high after day 1 - went even higher in the extreme conditions.  Sustained winds were in the mid-30's with gusts to near 50 mph on the Wildflower course that sits atop a hill.  With little tree cover, the course was raked by the winds and the players were pounded.

Schreiner fell one spot on the second day and finished in the middle of the pack overall.  Freshman Jay Chapman finished 31st overall.  Sophomore Brent Stanford finished 43rd.

"The guys had a really tough time with the wind these two days.  In some ways, when you face that type of extreme wind, it isn't really golf anymore.  It becomes a mental battle with yourself.  For the most part, I think we handled that situation pretty well.  I know the guys aren't happy with their results and that good because they're competitors.  We still have a lot of room for improvement, but we kept on top of our emotions pretty well and that's saying something in these conditions" said Coach Ron Macosko.