Rough Rounds Sink Loyola at Babygrande Collegiate

Loyola men’s golf resumed their spring season after a month-long break following their last match at the Babygrande Donald Ross Collegiate in Southern Pines, N.C. The Ramblers were led by their third-year heavy group of Charlie Kulwin, Ryan Walsh, Sebastian Kasun, Dori Lee and redshirt third-year Zach Mulhearn. 

The invitational was played on a 72-par course and teed off for Loyola with a shotgun start at 7:45 a.m. Monday, March 10. Loyola quickly found themselves behind the ball after the front nine — where four of the five Ramblers were over par. Mulhearn led the team as the sole Rambler under par after shooting four birdies in the last five holes to put him one under. 

The back nine wasn’t kinder, as all five Ramblers finished over par after the team posted four bogeys on holes 13 and 17. Luckily for Loyola, the invitational only took the four highest scores of each round into consideration, leading to a +19 in round one and putting them in 18th out of 20 heading into round two. 

The Ramblers had a more successful second round, finding themselves with two golfers under par after the first nine holes, with Walsh being three under par thanks to Loyola’s sole eagle of the tournament. The back nine was relatively similar as Walsh and Kulwin posted one over par and finished the round two under and even with par. 

Kasun and Lee both posted scores three and eight above the mark as Loyola finished nine over for the seventh-best score of the round.

Heading into Tuesday, Loyola found themselves sitting in 15th, looking to make up ground on the teams in front of them. Round three was by far the best of the contest for the Ramblers, as Kulwin posted four under par with four birdies and zero bogeys on the front nine. Lee finished even with par, and Kasun, Walsh and Mulhearn were all one over par following the first nine holes.

The back half was even more productive, as the four qualifying Ramblers combined for only three bogeys in the back nine to seven birdies. Kasun, Walsh and Mulhearn all posted scores under par in the last nine. 

Kulwin led the round for Loyola, finishing three under par with his best round of the tournament. Kasun was behind him with his best round of the week and finished two under par. Walsh and Mulhearn both closed the round even with par as Loyola tallied an five under to close the tournament with the final round’s third-best score.

The Ramblers finished 11th overall, jumping up four spots from the day before. Loyola was led by a strong invitational from Kulwin, who finished two over par after improving upon his score each go-round to earn 21st overall. He was followed by Kasun and Walsh, who tied at +five for 33rd. A good final round propelled Mulhearn to 66th at +13, and Lee finished last in 88th at +21.

This is the first of four invitationals for Loyola before the face-off in the Atlantic 10 Championships April 22-24. The Ramblers tee off next in Litchfield Park, Ariz. at the Bell Bank “Pay It Forward” Collegiate hosted by the University of Minnesota March 24-25.