The Furman men’s golf team opened the season on Sept. 7-8 at the Gopher Invitational at Windsong Farm Golf Club.
The 2024-25 men’s opening lineup included some returning names as well as a new face, freshman Ludvig Josefsson. As for the returners, seniors Will Morlan and Trey Diehl were inserted into the lineup behind junior Harris Barth, who begins the year in the number one spot. Josefsson was placed in the fourth spot, and junior Clark Akers rounded out the top five, with junior Zach Frazier entering as an individual, meaning his score would not count towards the team’s total.
However, this lineup shifted Sunday morning when the tee times commenced. Diehl was forced to withdraw from the tournament before his first round tee time due to an illness that had snuck up on him the night before. Thus, Frazier slid into his spot and the Dins were down to five people for the tournament.
Barth got off to a hot start after round one, birdieing holes 5 and 6, and fired a one-under round of 70. Josefsson had a strong showing as well in his first collegiate round, posting a three-over 74. However, the real highlight of the day for Furman was Frazier’s hole-in-one on the par three fourth hole. With the rest of the team holding their own, the Dins found themselves in the middle of the pack after the first round of a long day.
The second 18 holes also took place Sunday morning. The afternoon round yielded lower scores for the Dins. Morlan putted exceptionally well on his way to a five-under 66. Likewise, Barth improved on his round from the morning with a three-under 68. This score catapulted Barth up to first place on the individual leaderboard.
As Monday dawned, the final round got underway with Barth in the lead. A costly double bogey on six set him back early on, but an even par back nine put him in a solid position. Josefsson showed great promise in his consistent play, firing 74, 73, 74 across all three rounds.
As a team, the Dins finished in 8th place on a leaderboard that included many power four schools such as Iowa State, Minnesota and Nebraska. The top scorers did not waiver, but Barth secured a phenomenal T-3 place individual finish. Morlan also played a steady round of even par to finish T-7 for the tournament.
The Paladins will be back in action on Sept. 16 and 17 in Cincinnati, Ohio for the Bearcat Invitational next week, where they will look to build on this strong performance.
