Penn State U. men’s golf coach Greg Nye knew when the season began that he had a relatively inexperienced team that would have to grow as the season went on.
However, it was the least experienced member of his squad, true freshman Michael Miller, who played the best this weekend at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate in Zionsville, Ind.
“I’m really really excited about Mike Miller’s play.” Nye said. “A lot of his game is very sound and he’s highly competitive”
Miller, who was making his collegiate debut, shot a 217 to finish as the Nittany Lions’ top golfer.
“It was a good opening tournament for his first tournament as a Penn Stater,” senior Tommy McDonagh said.
Miller said that he thought he played well, and was not worried about his first college experience.
“I was more excited than nervous,” Miller said of his debut.
However, Penn State’s upperclassmen struggled on what both Nye and his golfers said was a tough course.
McDonagh and fellow senior T.J. Howe, the only two returning members of the team who played regularly last year, struggled through the first two rounds and entered the final round of play in ties for 59th and 65th place, respectively, in the 81-man field.
“I didn’t play nearly as well as I planned on,” Howe said. “I was a little rusty, I haven’t played competitively in about a month. There was a little flaw in my swing that caused me to have some issues and didn’t allow me to put up some very good numbers.”
Howe recovered to shoot a 70 (-1) on the final day, but McDonagh’s hardships continued with a 78.
McDonagh, who set a personal goal of being an All-American this year, said that while he drove the ball well he struggled with his iron, which cost him.
“I’ll be hitting balls all this week,” McDonagh said, “and hopefully figure it out.”
As a team, Penn State finished 12th out of 15 teams.
Meanwhile, the women’s team opened its season Sunday at the Cougar Classic hosted by the College of Charleston.
The tournament will continue through Tuesday, but Penn State shot an opening-round 297 on Sunday, leaving it tied for seventh in the 21-team field.
“We have a much better team attitude this year,” said senior Gia Fanelli, who shot an opening-round 73, tied for the team-best with senior Giulia Carando. “We are all just putting in the extra time that we didn’t last year.”