COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Penn State men's golf team tied its best finish at the Kepler Intercollegiate with a strong showing in Sunday's final round to take second place with a 12-over 864. The Nittany Lions' final score was one stroke shy of its best mark at Ohio State's home tournament as they posted three rounds of 288, round totals that rank in their top five for this event.
"Our team came out fully clawed today for some reason," said Penn State men's golf head coach Greg Nye. "They were ready to play the way the wind and hole locations dictated. They dealt with adversity extremely well and fought back to get within three or four shots of an outstanding Illinois team on the final holes. Scarlet was once again an extremely tough test and we rose to the challenge."
Senior Lou Olsakovsky (Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania) made a birdie on No. 14 and played even the rest of the way for a 1-under 70 for the round and 215 (2-over, 69-76-70) to tie for ninth. Moving up nine spots in the final round was James McHugh (Rye, New York) who tallied three birdies for a 1-over 72 and 219 total (6-over) for the tournament (t-22nd, 74-73-72). Sophomore Patrick Sheehan (Doylestown, Pennsylvania) carded a 1-over 72 in the final round for an 11-over 224 (t-48th, 76-76-72).
Graduate student Ryan Davis (Berkeley Heights, New Jersey) made three birdies on his final nine holes, including a birdie on No. 18 to maintain Penn State's claim on second place. Davis finished the afternoon tied for 13th with a 3-over 216 (73-69-74). Also tied for 13th was graduate student Alec Bard (New Hartford, New York) with a 3-over 216 (72-70-74).
Darkness suspended play late on Saturday, forcing the Nittany Lions to return early Sunday morning to complete their final holes of the second round. Penn State left the Scarlet Course in fourth place and moved to second after 36 holes.
No. 8 Illinois held onto the top spot from start to finish with a 7-over 859. Kent State's Cade Breitenstine won medalist honors with a 3-under 210.
Penn State's next competition will be the Big Ten Conference Championships, a 54-hole, three-day event Friday-Sunday, April 29-May 1 at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana.
