Knoxville, TN – The Aquinas College and women's and men's golf teams opened the spring season with a pair of top-ten finishes at the Island Pointe Intercollegiate at Island Pointe Golf Club.
The two-day event tested golfers as they persevered through cold temperatures, rain and wind.
The women posted an impressive third-place finish out of eight teams, while the men placed 10th among 17 teams.
The Saints closed with a two-day tally of 703 (357-346) and were 39 strokes back of first-place Olivet Nazarene.
The men finished with a 657 (338-319) total and dropped 18 strokes from their first-day effort.
Women's Recap
Freshman Quinn Clement led the Saints as she finished with a 169 after rounds of 87 and 82, which was good enough for fifth overall and a spot on the all-tournament team.
Junior Jayda Kerns tied for ninth after shooting rounds of 88 and 87 for a 175 total.
Sophomore Ava Clark placed in a tie for 13th with a pair of 88s and junior Zoey Quinn finished in a tie for 20th with rounds of 94 and 89.
Sophomore Ellie Christian placed in a tie for 26th (96-92).
Men's Recap
Junior Austin Pitsch paced the team with a pair of stellar rounds. He fired a 76 and 77 for a 153 total and a tie for sixth place, missing out on the all-tournament team by one stroke.
Freshman Benjamin Holloway bounced back from a disappointing first-round 87 to shoot a 3-over-par 75 on Friday.
Senior Anthony Lalomia (172) finished in a tie for 60th, while sophomore Andrew Kurowski (178) and senior McCoy Denhartigh (180) placed 74th and 76th, respectively.
Coach's Comments
Head Coach Matt Denhartigh: "It was great getting back on the course with both teams and I thought they handled themselves extremely well as they handled the weather and slow play and knocked off the rust from the winter. I'm excited to see the progress as we come back home and prepare for the rest of the spring season."
Up Next
Both teams will be off the remainder of the month before continuing play April 6 at the Cleary University Spring Invitational in Brighton.
NOTE: Dean Holzwarth, serving as the Senior AQSaints Athletics Reporter & Content Specialist for AQSaints.com, brings decades of journalistic precision and storytelling flair to the Saints' media efforts. Previously, he covered high school sports for ten years at Grand Rapids–based WOOD-TV, following a 16-year tenure in sports reporting with the Grand Rapids Press and MLive. His deep experience in capturing the heartbeat of local athletics now fuels his engaging coverage of Aquinas College sports.
