The Biola men’s golf team placed sixth out of eight teams at the 2011 California State Intercollegiate Men’s Golf Classic hosted by the University of La Verne this week. Three individuals from the men’s team placed within the top 20 at the event. The women’s team finished 14th out of 16 at the Grand Canyon Women’s Fall Invitational in Arizona on Monday and Tuesday. The women’s tournament featured mostly competition from the NCAA Division II.
Men’s team led by Joshua Mathis
Junior Joshua Mathis led the men with an 11th place finish including a first round that was three-under par at 69. His next two rounds, 73 and 77, put him three over when all was said and done.
“Mathis played well for us and finished first on the team,” senior Greg Bodine said. “The first round three-under par was impressive, there were a lot of tough pins out there.”
Senior John Graham scored 72 in the second round for a 15th overall finish at the tournament. However, first and third round scores of 76 and 75 brought Graham down.
“My scores would have been a lot lower except for the fact that I made a few poor decisions each round which proved costly,” Graham said.
Bodine was the third Eagle to place in the top 20 and came in with scores of 72, 76, 77. Kyle Schrader came in at 35th.
Despite some solid individual performances, the team always looks to improve together.
“We look to improve in being a more consistent team, we usually always have two or three players play well, but we are looking for consistency as far as all five of us are concerned,” Bodine said. “It’s much easier to score low when all five guys have respectable scores.”
Women’s golf led by Lauren Marlow
Junior Lauren Marlow was the lone Eagle on the women’s side to finish in the top 30. She tied for 29th with scores of 77 and 80 after the two-day event. Sophomore Jackie Mata tied for 67th and was the next closest Biola golfer to Marrow. Junior Beth Williams tied for 75th, junior Claire Prentice took 79th, freshman Caylie Allen and sophomore Megan Anderson tied each other for 80th.
“I feel our team is growing the more tournaments we compete in,” Marrow said. “I feel as though our team played better in this tournament because the first tournament nerves were out of the way.
The women finish their fall season with a trip to Oregon at the George Fox Invitational Oct. 14 to 15. The men travel to Oregon for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Preview Invitational hosted by Corban University on Oct. 3 and Oct. 4.
