TECUMSEH, Mich. – The Trine University men's golf team was in action on Thursday in round one of the Irish Hills Invitational at Tecumseh Golf Club, hosted by Adrian College. After 18 holes, the Thunder lead the field of 13 teams by one stroke over second-place Calvin University.
Trine was led by junior Mark Civanich with a first-round 69. Civanich topped the player leaderboard and was the only golfer to go sub-70 with his 3-under tally. He went 3-under 33 on the front nine, including birdies on holes one, five, six and nine. He added two more birdies on the back to give him six on the afternoon.
Senior Mitch Lowney is tied for second overall with an even-par 72. He trails Civanich by three strokes, but was a major contributor to the lowest team score of the day. Lowney recorded four birdies after making the turn, including one on the 18th hole to finish the day.
The last two countable team scores belonged to senior Charlie Eriksen and sophomore Kyler Rod. Eriksen is tied for 15th with a score of 77 and Rod tied for 19th with a 78. Each of them collected a pair of birdies over the course of their rounds. Carter Rang was the fifth member of the Thunder team and is also inside the top-25 on the player leaderboard, tied for 24th (79). The junior had three birdies, one on each type of hole – par-3, 4 and 5.
The Thunder B-team had three members inside the top-25 as well. Sophomore Nick Coccaro is in a tie for ninth place and had the team's only eagle on the par-5 14th hole. Also putting together solid rounds were sophomore Ryan Gienger and senior Mitch Blank. Gienger is tied for 19th with a round of 78 and Blank tied for 24th at 79. Freshman Carter Schnipke (81) and senior Sean Hogan (86) wrapped up scores on the B-team.
Play continues on Friday, September 16 beginning with a 12:38 pm tee time.