The Furman men’s golf team traveled to the Lone Star State on Oct. 6–8 to participate in the Trinity Forest Invitational, hosted by Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
The tournament was held at Trinity Forest Golf Club, a course that was founded 10 years ago and is the home course of Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour golfer Jordan Spieth. The course features a links style layout with sandy brush surrounding the fairway bunkers and is littered with undulation. Perhaps the most unique feature of the course is its 35,000 square-foot double green that it shares with holes three and 11, making it one of the biggest greens in America.
The Paladins rolled into town with a lineup that included seniors Will Morlan and Trey Diehl, juniors Clark Akers and Harris Barth and freshman Ludvig Josefsson. The Dins have remained consistent this fall with Morlan, Diehl, Barth and Josefsson, but have been rotating others out of the fifth spot, with Akers getting the nod this week.
Round one got off to a smooth start as the Dins began to settle into their own by the ninth-hole, with many more pars coming on the back nine for all the players. Barth heated up on the back nine with a bogey-free five-under 31 to post a 67 overall. Akers stepped up along with him, delivering a three-under 69 and keeping the Dins in the top half of the leaderboard.
Round two was even better across the board for Furman, as Barth rolled in a huge eagle putt on the par five second hole, and Diehl fought his way to a two-under round of 70. The Dins remained in the middle of the pack throughout the day, but it was clear there was room to move within a crowded yet competitive leaderboard.
The final round on Tuesday saw the Furman team’s best performance. Diehl scored a tournament best three-under 69, while Morlan rolled in back-to-back birdies on holes nine and ten on his way to even par for the day. From an individual standpoint, Barth and Akers were climbing the leaderboard quickly. Akers finished with four birdies in his last six holes to vault himself to ten-under for the tournament and a sixth place finish. Barth, on the other hand, played a steady back nine of even par to place 11th overall.
As a team, the Dins finished in sixth place just two shots behind the fifth-place team, the University of Louisiana. The Dins also finished ahead of schools like North Texas and NC State, positioning them in a solid spot as they approach the halfway point of the fall season.
The Furman men’s golf team will be back in action Oct. 14–15 for the Qubein Cup at High Point University, where they will face five Power 4 schools.
