By: Landry Long | Co-Sports Editor
The Taylor men's golf team drove home a solid performance over Spring Break, finishing runner-up in the Southeastern Kentucky Invitational.
The Trojan 'A' team fell 35 strokes short behind the hosting No. 16 ranked University of the Cumberlands, but still managed to set a school record 18-hole score in the first round of the tournament and finished with an impressive overall total of 906 strokes.
Freshman Alec Dutkowski led the way on the final day of the tournament with a score of 73-just one over par-while sophomore Trey Turner carded a 77. The 'A' team scores were rounded out by freshman Jeremy Ray with a score of 80 and junior Ian Rinken, who finished with an 81.
Taylor's 'B' team also chipped in an impressive performance with an overall fourth-place finish out of a nine-team field, ending the tournament with an overall score of 927.
The Trojan 'B' squad was led by freshman Chase Picken, who carded a final round score of 69, and senior Stefan Fahlen, who added a 75. Juniors Nathan Edwards and Seth Neal offered support with rounds of 79 and 82.
Picken and Dutkowski were both all-tournament team honors, with Picken leading the Trojans with a third-place overall finish and Dutkowski earning fourth.
Head coach Cam Andry was very pleased with his team's overall performance but acknowledges that there is room for growth.
"We played really well in the first round, setting a new school record with a team score of 291 (3-over-par)," Andry said. "In the final two rounds, we didn't score as well because we hampered ourselves with some mistakes that resulted in some big numbers, but we did make a lot of birdies. In fact, the 'A' team led the field in total birdies as a team, so we know we're making plenty of birdies; we just need to eliminate the big mistakes."
As the top man for the Trojans during the course of the tournament, Picken earned his second top-10 and sixth top-20 finish for his freshman campaign.
"I was very happy to take third individually," Picken said. "Prior to leaving for Kentucky, I was having a tough time bringing my game up to where I had wanted it to be, so it was nice to establish a rhythm early in my first round to kickstart the rest of the tournament."
As Picken's game has started to come around early in the season, Andry sees fewer rough patches and more greens in the future.
"Chase was phenomenal on Monday and Tuesday," Andry said. "He struggled in qualifying earlier in the spring but he's really put in a lot of work to get his game back into top shape and I was really excited to see his hard work pay off with very good results."
With back-to-back runner-up finishes, the Trojans have earned a national ranking of 23-one of two ranked teams in the Crossroads League along with No. 15-ranked Marian.
Despite the honor, Andry understands that bigger goals and accomplishments lie ahead.
"Being ranked is always nice, but it's something that is really outside of our control, so we don't worry about it too much," Andry said. "Our goal is to win the Crossroads League Championship, then go compete at the National Championship, so being ranked doesn't really have any impact on our goals . . . we certainly appreciate being recognized as one of the top 25 teams in the NAIA."
As the season has started to come into full swing, Picken is grateful for the opportunity to represent Taylor and enjoy the time with his teammates.
"God has allowed us to come together and share this special journey with each other as well as the entire Taylor community," Picken said. "Our team has had a blast working to achieve our goals, and we hope to continue progressing as we move forward."
The Trojans will tee up next on April 1-2, when they compete in the Saint Francis Invitational in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Photograph provided by TU Sports Information Department
