UHSP finishes 7th at AMC Championships; Kosola leads Eutectics
MELBOURNE, AR – The Eutectics closed out the Men's Golf season finishing seventh out of nine teams in the American Midwest Conference Tournament. The event was held at Cooper's Hawk Golf Course and hosted by Williams Baptist. UHSP shaved nearly 20 strokes off their score from round one to round two. Connor Kosola was the top Eutectic edging out Brett Bushue by two strokes. Kosola finished at 235 (+19) while Bushue was 237 (+21).
As a team, UHSP shot a 330 for round one finishing +42. William Woods led the field after one round with a 282 (-6). The Owls did nothing on day two to hurt their chances as they carded a 285 (-3) in round two, widening their lead over the Cougars by nine strokes. WWU finished with a 292 (+4) in round three to end up winning the AMC Tournament title by six strokes (859) over Columbia (865).
Kosola opened his tournament with four bogeys in round one and a double-bogey. He parred the other 13 holes for a total of 78 (+6). He added to that effort in round two with a pair of birdies, five bogeys and 11 pars for a 75 (+3). Teammate Brett Bushue was hot on Kosola's heels with a 79 in round one and 77 in round two. Bushue's opening round featured two birdies, but three bogeys and three double-bogeys. He had a birdie and six bogeys in round two amongst an otherwise even round and trailed Kosola by three strokes heading into round three. Kosola left the door open with an 82 (+10). He bogeyed five of the first six holes and seven total on the front nine. He birdied the par-4 11th, but double-bogeyed the par-4 14th, a hole that gave him trouble in all three rounds. Bushue though could not capitalize as he had seven bogeys and a double to finish the final round at 81 (+9) and only climb one stroke closer to Kosola. Kosola finished 20th overall with Bushue tied for 23rd. Liam Toole of William Woods won the tournament finishing -8 at 208, one stroke better than teammate Spencer Worley.
Will Turner would finish in 28th place for UHSP while Alex Chandler was 33rd. Turner would go 87-80-76 improving over each round. After a birdie-free opening session, he found smoother sailing in round two, even birdie-ing the par-4 11th hole that he triple-bogeyed in round one. He would birdie the 11th again in round three as he recorded three birdies in the round. Chandler has the same fortune as Turner between rounds one and two as followed an 89 with an 82. He also birdies three holes in his second round, the only below-par holes on his scorecard. Chandler equaled his 82 on day three.
Abe Neal tied for 35th place, three strokes behind Chandler at 40-over as he went 86-84-86 over hi s three rounds. His lone birdie came in round two when he notched a three on the 396-yard par-4 13th hole.
Among the teams that placed third through seventh, those five teams were only separated by 50 strokes. Williams Baptist was third at 915, Central Baptist shot a 918, Missouri Baptist was at 934, Mission carded a 957 and then the Eutectics at 965. UHSP finished ahead of Hannibal-LaGrange (1042) and Crowley's Ridge (1050).
Will Turner was named to the Champions of Character Team.