The Idaho men’s golf team got back to business on the course for the Itani Quality Homes Collegiate Tournament at Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman on Monday and Tuesday.
Idaho head coach David Nuhn said despite a slow start to the season he thinks the team is moving in the right direction.
“Judging from my discussion a lot of the guys, we missed a lot of putts,” Nuhn said in a news release. “Ultimately, if you don’t make putts it becomes very difficult to be at the top of the leaderboard. But the fact that we didn’t make a lot of putts and we had a couple bad swings, to still finish 285, 286 shows me we’re headed in the right direction. We’re getting closer to where I know this team can and will be.”
Although the Vandals finished the tournament at ninth out of 11 teams with a total team score of a 13-over-par 865, freshman Adam Veenstra finished at 1-under for the tournament, tying for 19th place in his first ever collegiate tournament.
Veenstra’s first round was underwhelming, as he started with a 5-over 76, a score which would not play into the Vandals’ 10-over 294 as a team.
The newcomer would get into form for the final two rounds, carding 3-under 68s in both. His second round featured seven birdies to effectively counteract his two bogies and one double.
Veenstra was incredibly consistent in round three, hitting only one bogey on the day— on the first hole. He would go on to birdie four of the remaining holes and par the rest. Of the course’s four par-5s, Veenstra birdied three.
Junior Enrique Marin, one of Idaho’s bright spots last season, had a shaky start to the tournament, shooting consecutive 4-over 75s in rounds one and two. Marin recovered in an unprecedented manner, shooting a 5-under 66 on six birdies and only one bogey to close out the tournament and finish tied for 32nd. Marin’s 66 tied for the third-best round of the day.
Sophomore Ethan Atherstone sat at 31st after round two, as he tied Veenstra’s two-round score of 144 after carding back-to-back 1-over 72s to kick off the tournament. Atherstone was unable to keep the momentum going however, falling to 56th after an 8-over 79 performance in round three.
Freshman newcomer Cole Chrisman also impressed in his first ever collegiate tournament, shooting a 72 and 73 respectively in the first two rounds. Chrisman was unable to carry over his first play into the final round though, as he carded a 5-over 76 in round three to finish the tournament with an 8-over 221, tying for 48th.
Nuhn said in a news release that he was pleased with the performances of the two freshman, although the youthful team still needs work.
“It’s really nice to see a couple young guys stepping up and contributing scores to the team,” Nuhn said. “I’m excited what this team can turn into down the road, but we’re still young and learning on the fly.”
Boise State’s Donny Hopoi was the gold medalist for the tournament, shooting an overall 13-under.
Host-team Washington State would take first as a team, edging out Boise State by just one stroke with an overall 33-under-par.
Nuhn said later that the positives he saw will hopefully translate into momentum when the Vandals travel to the Ram Masters Tournament Sept. 18 in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Colton Clark can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @coltonclark95