Ramblers Battle Early Rain and Finish 12th at Golfweek Fall Challenge

A rough first day and torrential downpour spoiled the Loyola men’s golf team’s opening weekend as they finished 12 out of 15 teams at the Golfweek Fall Challenge.

The Ramblers officially kicked off their fall season at the event, which took place Sept. 9-10 in Pawleys Island, SC, facing off against 14 other universities including fellow Atlantic 10 competitor University of Richmond. Richmond finished the contest well above the Ramblers, tied for fifth at 865 strokes (286-293-286) in the 54-hole contest.

Arkansas State dominated the invitational, finishing first with a combined score of 829 (277-279-273). Taking first place individually was Austin Peay State University’s third-year Patton Samuels with a combined score of 201 and 15 under par.

The Ramblers entered the tournament with four returning players and one first-year after last season’s seventh place finish in the A10. 

At the end of play, Loyola recorded a score of 885 strokes (301-290-294) and placed 12th at 21 over par.

Loyola head coach Erik Hoops said the rain was a big factor in the Ramblers’ worst round, as they hung a poor score of 301 in the first round.

“I hate to make excuses, but we caught a pretty rough draw the first day with rain that came out of nowhere,” Hoops said. “It made a stretch of the course play substantially tougher for us as opposed to those teams in the lead.”

It wasn’t a high-placing tournament for Loyola’s individuals, as the maroon and gold’s top scorer was third-year Sebastian Kasun who finished 36th overall after scoring three over par at 219 (74-70-75). His 70-stroke second round was just one shy of tying his career best.

Third-year Dori Lee took 221 strokes (77-73-71), putting him in second for the Ramblers. Lee finished five over par and placed 42nd individually. He also captured his best individual round score in his third round, which was one under par. 

The third-highest Rambler, redshirt third-year Zach Mulhearn also posted a career-best round as he took 49th place shooting 224 (76-76-72). Like Lee, Mulhearn had set his career best in the third round.

Third-year Charlie Kulwin tied for 57th after recording a 226 (74-76-76) and finished 10 over par on the tournament. 

Last for the Ramblers in the contest was first-year Clay Heilman who made his Loyola debut with a score of 14 over par at 230 (81-71-78). Despite Heilman’s struggles, he did tie for the second-best round of any Rambler on the weekend when he finished one under par with 71 in his second round.

After a rough first round, Hoops said he was proud of how the Ramblers finished their tournament.

“Over the second two days, I thought we showed some great grit and competitiveness against a good field of teams in the top-100,” Hoops said. “We got contribution from everyone in the lineup, some saw red numbers, and are feeling good heading into Davidson next week. When you finish well, you can’t wait to get back out there.”

Loyola will be back on the links Sept. 16-17 at River Run Collegiate hosted by Davidson University in Davidson, NC.