This past weekend Mercer men’s golf team co-hosted the annual Brickyard Collegiate Championship. In the tournament, 15 teams competed from across the country from Princeton to South Florida. The tournament was held at the Brickyard Golf Club in north Macon. Mercer finished the opening round in ninth place with a score of 296, but finished in third round with a score of 286. They finished the tournament with a total score of 872 which landed them in sixth place. This put the Bears directly behind Virginia Tech and Chattanooga who tied for fourth. This was a marked improvement from Mercer’s position last year where they took eighth in the competition. This marked the sixth year that Brickyard held the collegiate competition and the tournament itself continues to bring strong contenders for the Bears to compete with.
The Bears set high expectations for their performance and for the tournaments to follow this year by setting many records for themselves. Some of the records include shooting the lowest one-day score that the team has ever had in a tournament. Also, the team beat their previous year’s overall score by 18 strokes.
Many of the individual players should be commended as well for their outstanding performance. Two players, James Beale, a junior, and Hans Reimer, also a junior, took places under the top twenty individual scores for the tournament. James Beale tied for eighth place scoring an overall score of 213. This is the first time one of the Bears has finished in the top 10 since the tournament’s inception. Beale came in only one stroke behind Georgia University’s player T.J. Mitchell who is ranked ninth in the nation. After two days of scoring a consistent 71, Hans Reimer tied for 14th place, finishing with an overall score of 215.
Mercer started the competition with an overall score of 296 in the first round. This was followed by a score of 290 for the second round, and the Bears finished the final round with a score of 286.
Many Mercer students and parents crowded the packed golf club in order to see the Bears perform at their best. Diane Joseph, mother of John Gregory Joseph, said, “ I think Mercer is doing really well today as a team. They are pulling together as a team, and Coach Steve Bradley is doing an excellent job with the boys.” Indeed it seems that Mercer’s hard work paid off with the results they got from this tournament. On the other hand volunteer and Mercer alumni, Adam Bailey, said, “I think Mercer has played well but not up to their full potential.” One hopes that the season overall will prove to be as successful and hopefully even better than this tournament.
The Mercer Bear’s are now preparing for their next tournament, which will come just shy of a week from now. This next event will be the golf team’s final event for the fall semester. The AutoTrader Collegiate Classic Competition will be held on Oct. 15 at Berkley Hills Country Club.
Men’s golf finishes 6th
