The Idaho Vandals Men’s golf team went to Colorado Springs, Colorado on Sept. 22 for the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational where they dominated. The Vandals placed first and ended up breaking the school’s 54-hole record by going 23-under as a team. They outperformed the number two team, Gonzaga, by 10 strokes.
Senior Josh McCartain, who won Big Sky Conference Golfer of the Week earlier in the season, placed third out of everyone who participated. McCartain ended with a final score of 9-under with a round sequence that progressively got better.
In round one, he went 1-under, round two was 3-under, and round three was 5-under. Another top five performance for the Vandals came from Samuel Johnson who went 7-under which was good enough for him to tie for fifth.
The Vandals would not have placed first without an overall great team performance. Senior Joe Sykes tied for 14th place with a total of 3-under, graduate Dalton Dean tied for 28th with an even score, all the golfers placed in the top 36% of every participant.
Head coach David Nuhn was proud of the team’s effort and performance in taking first.
“I could not be more proud of our guys this week,” Nuhn said in a press release. “They really did a great job of focusing on themselves. Not worrying about anyone else and simply the next shot they faced.”
McCartain has gotten off to a good start for the Vandals this season and is poised to have a great senior season. Sykes alongside McCartain has had a great start to the season and his veteran leadership looks poised to lead the Vandals this season.
The Vandals will hit the course next at the SIUE Dolenc Invitational at the Gateway National Golf Links in Madison, Illinois. on Sept. 29 and 30.
Taylan Hallum can be reached at [email protected].