On an early Monday morning in Huntington, W. Va., senior Bradley Lucas and the men’s golf team started their season off slowly, tying for eighth in the first round of the Marshall Invitational.
Lucas, a three-time all Mid-American Conference honorable mention, and head coach Bob Cooley helped the 18-time MAC champions prepare for the invitational last weekend.
“We played a practice round and walked the course length,” Cooley said. “It’s our first tournament of the season, so we’re prepared for it.”
Cooley gave the nod to two freshman golfers earlier this week, Ty Herriott and Peyton White, as Herriott led all the Bobcats with an overall score of 71 in his first 18 holes.
“I just tried to not think too much about it,” Herriott said. “Surprisingly, I wasn’t as nervous since I’ve played in so many junior tournaments. The course was a lot harder, and it was a different type of task playing on that type of course.”
After the first round, Cincinnati junior Baxter Reeves led the Bearcats to first place, hitting only 67 shots, for four strokes under par.
Herriott was 15 slots below Reeves on the standings.
“I actually didn’t know what my score was,” Herriott said. “We just went from one 18 to another. I knew I was about in that range.”
White tied for 27th overall while Lucas and junior Andrew Mlynarski tied for 37th. Senior Phil Gieseker and sophomore Mike Engelman rounded out the Bobcats with both of them shooting five over par.
The team travelled to the invitational without one of their seniors, Connor Coldwater, after Coldwater suffered an injury during the offseason.
“Connor is out with a knee injury, so I’m not sure how much he will play,” Cooley said.
Play for the second day of the invitational begins at 8:30 on Tuesday morning.
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