As many of Biola’s dorm communities embarked on floor retreats this weekend, men’s golf took a road trip of their own to Palm Springs, Calif., where they finished second out of four schools at the Palm Springs Break Tournament on March 8-9. Three Eagles—juniors Austin Bishop, Parker Buck and Kyle McAbee—ended up within the top 10 of the individual leaderboard.
NEW LOW FOR MCABEE HIGHLIGHTS DAY ONE
The Eagles shot a respectable 298 as a team in round one, tying their season-low score. McAbee led the way with his best effort of the year, finishing just one over par with a 73. His day included an eagle on the third hole that erased a previous double bogey and got him back on track, according to head coach Max Allen in a Biola Athletics press release. Buck, also with his best showing of the season, came in just behind his teammate with a 74. Bishop overcame early struggles with three late birdies to finish at 75 on the day.
Rounding out Biola’s opening round scoring were senior Cameron Bauer with a 76 and junior Dominic Arinodo with a 78. The Eagles finished the day just one stroke out of first place in the team standings.
BISHOP’S SECOND DAY NOT ENOUGH FOR TEAM WIN
After tying their season best in the first day, the Eagles shattered that mark on day two, shooting a 292 that will join a four-way tie for third-best round in Biola men’s golf history. Bishop took over in the second and final round and shot a 70, or two under par, which proved the fourth best mark of any golfer in the tournament that day. It also set a new season low for an individual round by an Eagles men’s golfer. Buck shaved a stroke off his first round score, shooting a 73 for the second-best Biola performance of the afternoon. Arionado also saw improvement in the second round, shooting a 74 for a four-stroke improvement over day one.
McAbee, however, slipped by two strokes, finishing with a still respectable 75 in the round. Bauer struggled the most in the home stretch, seeing his score rise to an 83. The Eagles’ overall solid performance could not catch up to Marymount University, whose team score of 282 powered them past the Eagles to an easy ten-stroke victory in the team contest.
Biola had to settle for second and will return to action not far from where they played this event, as the Desert Intercollegiate invitational on March 26-27 takes place in nearby Indio, Calif.
