Furman men’s golf made the trip down to Augusta, Ga. to participate in the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational at the Forest Hills Golf Club April 5-6. Furman was one of 15 teams invited to the tournament and found themselves in the midst of the strongest field they have seen all season. Also competing were schools such as Texas, Oklahoma State, North Carolina and Illinois.
The Paladins sent a familiar lineup — seniors Will Morland and Trey Diehl, juniors Harris Barth and Clark Akers and freshman Ludvig Josefsson. With just a few tournaments remaining in the season, Furman has found a consistent lineup that will likely stay the same heading into postseason play.
In round one, Furman put on a steady performance, hovering just under even-par for most of the day before Barth, Morland and Akers all finished their last four holes two-under. The strong finish put Furman at two-under as a team and firmly in contention with the rest of the teams on the leaderboard.
In round two, the golf course showed its teeth, and the scores went up for the Dins. Birdies were hard to come by on the front nine, but as the day went on, Furman was able to regain some ground that they had lost. Josefsson went on an impressive run on the back nine, birdieing holes 12, 13 and 14 and posted the best score of the round for the Paladins.
While sitting at six-over for the tournament, Furman needed a strong final round to vault themselves back into the middle of the leaderboard. Akers and Diehl started off strong, posting under-par front nines and setting the tone for the rest of the team. Barth had a solid back nine where he birdied 10, 11 and 17 to shoot a team best three-under on the round. Akers played steady golf for the entire round and was able to lock up a T-15 individual finish for the tournament at two-under.
As a team, Furman ended up finishing at one-under overall thanks to a seven-under team score in the final round — the third best of any team in the tournament. This finish will bode well for Furman’s national ranking as they wrap up their spring regular season.
Next, the Dins will have a two-week break before heading to Greensboro, Ga. for the Southern Conference Championship April 20-22. Furman will take time to prepare for what could be a run at a Southern Conference title, something they haven’t claimed since 2010.
