Golfers take third at Grub Mart Intercollegiate

Ricky Stiments takes a swing at the Jim Bishop Toyota Spring Classic at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at the Shoals Fighting Joe Course March 26.

The UNA golf team finished in third place, at 30-over par, at the Grub Mart Intercollegiate tournament at Silver Lakes Golf Course in Glencoe, Ala. April 8-9.

The tournament, hosted by Jacksonville State University, included ten teams that consisted of mostly Division I schools.

“We were playing against mostly all D-I teams, so it was some good exposure for my guys,” said Stuart Clark, UNA head golf coach.

During the tournament, the Lions had rounds of 304, 295 and 295 to finish 30-over par.

The Lions got off to a rough start in the first day of the tournament but were able to hold on to their No. 3 spot in the second day.

“We kind of got off to a bad start in that first round, and then we played decent in the second two rounds,” Clark said.

Clark explained that the team is still working to eliminate small but costly mistakes.

“We’re just making too many little mistakes that add up to bad scores — the pieces are there; we just have to keep our mistakes to a minimum,” Clark said.

Clark said the team saw a lot of ups and downs in the tournament, and that they struggled to bring everything together for a winning outcome.

But, Clark said, the team is young and can take a lot of positives away from the tournament.

“We’re learning and we just have to keep getting better at each tournament and we’re doing that,” Clark said.

In the tournament, junior Paul McClure came in fourth place, senior Ricky Stiments came in fifth place and sophomore Mason Rogers came in the top 10 in individuals.

Heading into conference play, Clark said he is telling his players to work on making their weaknesses their strengths.

“Hopefully we’re starting to get into a little bit of a good rhythm heading into conference,” Clark said.

The golfers will head to the Gulf South Conference tournament in Tunica, Miss., April 22-23.