The Men’s Golf team travelled to Simpsonville, Ky. to compete in the Cardinal Intercollegiate Monday Sept. 23 and Tuesday Sept. 24.
The team consisted of three seniors, James Beale, Trey Rule and Hans Reimers, and two freshmen, Sean Smothers and Emmanuel Kountakis. Four of these players helped the Bears capture fourth place at the Sam Hall Intercollegiate.
Monday morning, the Bears shot a disappointingly high round at ten strokes over. Both coaches and players were unhappy with the score, and determined to lower their score significantly in the second round Monday afternoon.
Led by a freshman, Kountakis, the Bears were able to overcome their deficit in round one to put the team in third place at the end of the first day.
The Bears also had individuals on the scoreboard after the first two rounds. Kountakis ended up in a tie for 13th place, and senior Beale was tied for eighth place. The team returned Tuesday with sights set on improving their position.
The team posted the lowest score of the competition. This allowed them to finish the competition in second place to host Louisville. Beale shot a great third round, and secured the fifth place individual position. Four of the Mercer men finished in the twenty individual positions.
This past weekend, the Bears hosted the Brickyard Collegiate Golf Tournament. The tournament hosted six of the nation’s top 30 teams as ranked by Golfweek magazine.
The Bears started the tournament off right with a great showing in the first round. It was their lowest scoring round in the past seven Brickyard championships.
Freshman Kountakis and his classmate Sean Smothers led the Bears in round one. The duo of seniors, Beale and Reimers, and junior rule posted strong, consistent showings as well. This record braking round was only enough to place the team in third place at the end of the round, a testament to the level of competition.
The Bears could not have shot a better round on Saturday. They broke their own record from the previous round, shooting a 272, the lowest single round in Brickyard history. This score moved the Bears from third place straight to first, giving them a great advantage for round three.
The Bears continued to outplay the competition to capture the championship title at the end of the weekend. Senior Reimers and freshman Kountakis took home individual co-champion medals as well. This was Reimers first medalist position of his college career. Kountakis notched the co-championship spot in just his second college appearance.
Other members of the team posted records themselves. Smothers recorded the first top ten spot of his career. Beale and Rule both finished in the top twenty individual positions.
Mercer outplayed Georgia Tech, ranked number two, Virginia Tech, Georgia and South Florida for their first tournament championship since 2011.
Senior James Beale states that “the team has definitely had its best ever start to a season in a long time. Things are looking very promising with three new freshman who are able to step up to the plate and post some scores along with myself, Hans Reimers and Trey Rule who are also getting better each and every year.”
There is a lot of competition to be the top player for the Bears this season. With solid returners and promising freshman, the Bears look forward to being unstoppable.
“We have always known that we were good enough but it’s been a matter of getting it done,” says Beale.
The Men’s Golf team certainly took care of business this weekend. They will continue to fight as they look forward to the Georgia State's AutoTrader.com Classic Oct. 14.
