After finishing the first tournament of the spring season, Marshall men’s golf finished 11th out of 19 teams at the Loyola Intercollegiate in Goodyear, Arizona at Palm Valley Golf Club.

“I know 11th place does not sound great, but it was good field,” Head Coach Matt Grobe said. “It was the first tournament of the year and I like how we finished four under on the last day.”

On the last day of the tournament, freshman Tyler Jones was three under shooting a 69. Junior Brad Plaziak and senior Ben Roeder finished the final day with back-to-back birdies on holes 17 and 18. The team finished the tournament two over with a three-day total of 866.

“It was really exciting watching the guys finish the tournament off,” Grobe said. “They finished strong. We picked up six birdies in the last couple of holes and that put us in a really good position in the end.”

Plaziak finished the lowest for the Herd with one under tying for 17th place out of 110 players.

“It was rewarding to see all the work I have been putting in actually paid off,” Plaziak said. “It was a really great way to start the spring season.”

Plaziak shot 71 (-1) in the first round with four birdies. In the second round, Plaziak shot 72 (E) with three birdies. In the final round, he shot another 72 (E) ending the round with four birdies. Plaziak had a total of 11 birdies throughout the event finishing a three-day total of 215 (-1).

“Ultimately, I felt good about every aspect of my game,” Plaziak said. “It all came together and that was really good to see.”

Roeder tied for 20th place shooting a three-day total round of 216 (E). In the first round, Roeder shot 74 (+2) with two birdies on the front nine. He shot 72 (E) in the second round with three birdies all on the front nine. In the final round, Roeder went up 16 spots shooting 70 (-2). Roeder finished the tournament with four birdies on the final day.

Jones tied for 27th place shooting a three-day total of 217 (+2). 73-75-69. In the opening day, Jones shot 73 (+1) with four birdies. In the second round, Jones shot 75 (+3) with two birdies. For his final round, Jones jumped 25 spots on the leaderboard, finishing with the lowest score by the Herd with a 69 (-3).

Redshirt junior Cameron Root tied for 46th place shooting a three-day total of 219 (+3). In the first round, Root shot 71 (-1) with four birdies. The following day, Root shot 75 (+3) with two birdies, and he shot 73 (+1) on the final day with two birdies on the back nine. Root had a total of eight birdies throughout the 54 holes.

Also tying for 46th place was redshirt junior Will Straub shooting a three-day total of 219 (+3). Straub shot 74 (+2) in the first round with one birdie and 71 (-1) in the second round with three birdies. From the first and second round, Straub moved six spots up the leaderboard. In the final round, Straub shot 74 (+2) with four birdies. Straub had a total of eight birdies throughout the 54 holes.

Sophomore Kyle Mitchell tied for 79th place shooting a 75-74-75 with a three-day total of 224 (+8). Mitchell had a total of five birdies and one eagle in the second round on hole 14.

Drake University won in teams shooting a total of 849 (-15). Sophomore Roberto Nieves from Delaware University won individually with a three-day score of 67-71-67 finishing (-11) in the 54-hole tournament.

The Herd is back in action on March 6 at Pinehurst Intercollegiate in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Stormy Randazzo can be contacted at [email protected].