ANGOLA, Ind. – In the opening round of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Automatic Qualifier event, the Trine University men's golf team finds themselves in third place in the team standings after hosting at Glendarin Hills Golf Club on Saturday.
Hope College took a commanding lead and will play at home for the remaining two rounds of the event to determine the conference's representative at the NCAA Division III National Championships. The Flying Dutch shot a combined 290, while Adrian College at 303, the Thunder at 305 and Calvin University at 307 followed.
Junior Mark Civanich led the team with a score of 74, good for fourth on the leaderboard. He was even on the front nine with a birdie on the par-4 ninth hole. Civanich would finish the round with a birdie on the 18th hole as well, a par-5.
Senior Mitch Lowney found himself inside the top-10 as well with a 76. Lowney tied for 10th with three birdies on his card, two of them coming on par-5 holes (5 and 18). He was 2-over par on both the front and back nine.
Senior Charlie Eriksen had two birdies on the front nine en route to firing a 77. He was consistent throughout the afternoon with nothing more than bogey and nine pars in total. He went on a roll late and hit for par on holes 12-16 to finish in a tie for 11th.
It was an up-and-down day for freshman Carter Schnipke. He recorded four birdies on the day and finished his round strong by going under-par on the par-5 hole 18 to score a 78, but his scorecard was brought down a tad with two triple-bogeys. He finished the round in a tie for 14th on the leaderboard.
Sophomore Ryan Gienger wrapped up play with an 84 to place 21st. Nine holes resulted in pars for Gienger, including three straight on holes 2-4 and 9-11.
The Thunder take a break from conference play on Tuesday, April 18 for the AC Eddy Invitational at Zollner Golf Course.