he two days of competition for the Biola men’s golf team could not have been more different. Day one featured near-100 degree temperatures and high winds, while day two had rain and temperatures in the mid-70s in Hemet, Calif. for the California State Intercollegiate.

Adverse Conditions

The adverse conditions of day one resulted in the Eagles coming in last place, while they took advantage of day two’s weather and moved up a spot to finish ninth overall out of ten.

Sophomore Kyle McAbee had the best performance for Biola on day one as he shot only two over par for a finish at 74, good enough for a tie for 17th position. Sophomore Dominic Ariondo finished second for Biola, posting a 79 that put him in a tie for 36th.

Juniors Samuel Shih and Ben Crumley and sophomore Austin Green rounded out the Eagles’ golfers with scores of 85, 86 and 89 respectively.

Biola started out the second round only seven strokes behind ninth place Pomona-Pitzer, and more than made up the gap to overtake them by five strokes by the end of day two.

Plentiful Improvement

The largest improvement of the day came thanks to Shih, who shot a 71 to spearhead the Biola effort. Bishop had the second best score, finishing par for the course at 72. McAbee tallied another 74, and Ariondo dropped his score down to 75. Crumley also saw improvement, bringing up the rear for the Eagles with an 83.

“The first round was tough because of the 40-plus miles per hour winds that lasted about two hours,” Ariondo said. “During the winds we had to play the toughest stretch of holes and that made it really tough. The second round was pouring rain off and on the entire round. We knew the course better, however, and grinded out a great day two.”

Biola will not take to the course for nearly a month until they head to Arizona for the Embry-Riddle Co-Ed Invite on Oct. 17 and 18.