The Biola men’s golf team returned from a long absence to hit the links once again in the SNU Arizona Intercollegiate Tournament this past Monday and Tuesday.

The field was loaded with talent, with five teams ranked in the top 10 in the NAIA and nearly every team ranked in the top 25 nationally. The course was set up at just under 7500 yards total, with very windy conditions both days, which made for a difficult course for the participants.

It was a tough day on the course for Biola with only one finisher in the top 20, and four finishers outside the top 50.

The bright spot for the Eagles was freshman Joshua Mathis who finished tied for 13th, shooting a +5 on the tournament with round scores of 71, 75 and 75 respectively.

Freshman Jordan Swanson was the next golfer for Biola who shot +18 on the tourney recording scores of 78, 77 and 79.

“The tournament was not our best effort, that’s for sure,” Swanson said. “We’re capable of doing much better and we know that. This was our first tournament back in the spring after the two-month offseason and it is always a bit difficult to get back into things after a break from playing competitively.

Senior Mike Belleggie, sophomore Sam Howell and freshmen Conner Penfold rounded out the rest of the Biola golfers.

“We have more tournaments coming up quickly with Point Loma’s Tournament in San Diego in 2 weeks and the Cal Baptist Tournament in Las Vegas the week after that,” Swanson said. “So we look forward to working hard and bouncing back in those events with a much better showing.”