The Erin Hills Intercollegiate men’s golf tournament wrapped up a three-day slate on Tuesday afternoon in Wisconsin with St. John’s finishing in last place out of 11 teams with a total score of 930 (+66).
Freshman Troy Evans finished with the team’s best score individually at seven over par, which resulted in a top-40 placement amongst his other competitors. Fellow freshman Seung Yub Andrew Baek (+12), Matthew Sweeney (+31) and Jonathan Spicci (+22) gained valuable experience playing on the PGA’s 2017 U.S. Open course while junior Giuseppe Truglio (+32) helped lead a young and upcoming group through what was an important tournament in terms of development.
The Johnnies participated in the event in Erin, Wis. matching up against SMU (who captured the trophy), Oklahoma State, 17th ranked powerhouse UCLA, Miami (Ohio), Marquette, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Colorado State, New Mexico and Northern Illinois.
With the temperature in the 50s and the wind swirling on a brutal day one, Mal Galletta’s team completed their opening round with a score of 312 (+24). Evans and Baek were the front-runners for the Red Storm as they capped their rounds with a 76 (+4) and 77 (+5) respectively.
SMU jumped out to an early lead as Andrew Buchanan shot a 67 (-5) to put the Mustangs up by two strokes over Oklahoma State, three up on UCLA and 32 up on the Johnnies.
On day two, St. John’s showed improvement, recording a score of 310 (+22), but they failed to catch any ground on SMU. The Mustangs kept their momentum as they shot even par to remain eight strokes under par for the tournament and one stroke ahead of UCLA.
Evans, a native of Vermont and the star of the team, shot one over par (+5 for the tournament) and set himself up for a possible impressive finish in the final round.
The Johnnies ended the tournament with a third round score of 308 (+20), which proved that the roster adjusted and progressed as the event went on.
Evans, who had seven birdies in three days, carded a 74 (+2) alongside Baek (+5), Spicci (+5) and Truglio (+8) recording their best scores on the final day.
St. John’s has found themselves in last place after every round so far this season but the roster has changed dramatically from a season ago with Big East Champion Dylan Crowley graduating.
Galletta will look to have his program right the ship in their final meet of the fall at the Mountaineer Intercollegiate tournament in Bridgeport, Va. in mid-October.
