The Missouri men struggled with wind in the second round at the William H. Tucker Invitational, hosted by the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, to take 14th place in the field of 15.
Weather troubles
After a two-under first round, the team encountered difficulties on holes 5-13 during the second round to finish 10-over as a team. Between the 5th and 13th holes, the team logged a combined 18 bogeys and 2 double bogeys. Freshman Antoni Hawkins was the only Mizzou golfer to shoot under-par in this stretch with
a birdie on hole 6.
“The second round, the weather switched about halfway through, and we were on a pretty tough stretch of holes,” Mizzou head coach Glen Millican said. “Those holes just got the best of us, and we gave up a lot of shots.”
Play was suspended during the second round because of inclement weather and was finished the next day before the start of the third round.
Mizzou came back in the third round with a one-over team score, but it wasn’t enough to boost their ranking on the leaderboard.
Individual performance
Hawkins led the Tigers with an even-par finish, shooting 71-72-73 on the par-72 course to tie for 35th place. This is his first time leading the Tigers this season.
Junior Andy Yang, who competed as an individual, followed with a one-over total. He shot 71-72-74 to tie for 45th place.
Sophomore Esteban Cruz Bonilla and junior Trent Mierl tied for 63rd place with five-over totals. Cruz Bonilla shot 73-77-71 at his first tournament of the season and Mierl shot 69-77-75.
Both golfers were the only ones on the team to record an eagle, with Cruz Bonilla shooting two and Mierl shooting one.
Junior Paxton Maxwell and senior Veikka Viskari tied for 70th with six-over totals. Maxwell shot 77-73-72 and Viskari shot 73-76-73.
The Tigers will compete next at the Bryson Invitational in Miami, Florida, starting Oct. 12.
