The Griffon News

The Western golf team came up big against one of the toughest fields they’ll see all season.

The Griffons maneuvered their way to a fourth place finish in the Northeastern State University Invitational despite facing very tough competition.

Junior Aaron Lisenbee led the charge for Western with a fifth place finish. He finished with a score of 216 at the event.

Lisenbee got off to a fast start with an even par in the first round and a one under par in the second round.

He finished fifth despite encountering some trouble on a par three in the third round. Lisenbee hit a ball that rolled down a cart path, and had to play his next shot off of a bridge.

Coach Jim Perry watched as one bad round took his team out of the running for a higher finish.

“Aaron’s shot off the bridge was tough,” Perry said. “That’s not something you see in golf very often.”

The Griffons also got a strong performance from junior Craig Lytle. Lytle found himself tied for 28th in the tournament with a score of 224. His solid performance helped push the Griffons into fourth place.

Other Griffon scores included a 227 from freshman Shane Feist and a 229 from senior Daniel Cordray.

The field in this event included some of the top teams from the area like number three ranked team, Central Oklahoma.

Washburn and Northeastern State also played well. All three teams finished ahead of Western with Washburn winning the tournament.

While this may have been a tough test for Western, Lisenbee thinks the team played a solid tournament.

“We did pretty well,” said Lisenbee. “We were five shots back and in second place after the first round.”

If the Griffons could have avoided a tough third round they would have been in contention to win the tournament. The team posted an even score with Washburn in two rounds.

Western will need to put together three solid rounds of golf if they hope to contend
in their next tournament. They face another tough field in the Drury Invitational held in Springfield, Mo..

“We’ll see a lot of Texas and Oklahoma teams in Springfield,” Perry said. “A lot of
teams seem to want to play in that tournament.”

After the tournament in Springfield, the Griffons will play a conference tournament at Pittsburg State. This could prove to be a big tournament for Western if they hope to compete for another MIAA conference title.

The Griffons will have to find a way to beat Washburn to have a shot at the conference title.

“We played well in our last tournament, but that Pitt State tournament will be big,”
Lisenbee said.

The team will play in the Pittsburg State Invitational October 9-10.