Trailblazers continue to stay consistent on the links at VU Fall Invitational

MONTGOMERY, Ind. – The Vincennes University golf team continued their consistent play this fall season at the two-day VU Fall Invitational at Country Oaks Golf Course Saturday and Sunday.

The VU 'Gold' Team shot an opening round 305 Saturday afternoon and battled some tough conditions Sunday morning to shoot a 306.

The VU 'Blue' Team began the tournament with a 315 on Saturday, before coming back to take five shots off their score for a second round 310 on Sunday.

VU's 'Gold' Team was led by sophomore Paxton Schwomeyer (Oakland City, Ind.) who shot an even par 72 on Saturday and a six-over 78 on Sunday.

Sophomore Luke VanDeventer (Columbus, Ind.) and freshman Preston Broce (Indianapolis, Ind.) were the second-lowest scorers for the Blazers with VanDeventer opening with a 74 on Saturday and a 79 on Sunday. Broce took the most shots off his round of any VU golfer this weekend, going from an 81 on Saturday, to an even par 72 on Sunday.

Sophomore Sam Stewart (Floyds Knobs, Ind.) and freshman Aaron Brink (Nashville, Ill.) rounded out the VU 'Gold' Team with Stewart shooting a 78 Saturday and an 81 Sunday and Brink finishing Saturday with an 82 before coming back with a 77 Sunday.

The Vincennes 'Blue' Team was led by sophomore Caleb Maris (Terre Haute, Ind.) and freshman Brant Tretter (Ferdinand, Ind.). Maris took three shots off of his first-round score, going from a 79 to a 76 on Sunday and Tretter improved five shots round-to-round with an 80 and a 75 for the tournament.

Sophomore Garrett Hulfachor (Lawrenceville, Ill.) placed third on the team, with a 76 on Saturday and an 81 on Sunday.

Sophomores Adam Leach (North Vernon, Ind.) and Caleb Newman (Vincennes, Ind.) rounded out the VU 'Blue' Team with Leach shooting a very consistent 80 Saturday and an 80 on Sunday and Newman finishing with an 82 on Saturday and a 79 on Sunday.

VU freshman Nate Olson (Greenwood Ind.) played the tournament as an individual and shot a two-over 74 on Saturday and finished the tournament with an 84 on Sunday.

"I think we were consistent as a team," VU Hall of Fame Golf Coach Dennis Chattin said. "We had the first group shoot a 305 yesterday and a 306 today, plus the second group shot a really nice score of 310 today. If we could just mix and match the right scorers and we could have easily moved up a couple more spots. We could have moved up anyway, we were only two shots behind Rend Lake, who we have been consistently close to them this year."

"We've also been close to Danville Area, but they shot a really nice 297 today and they kind of got away from us today," Chattin added. "We had some guys today that came back after some tough rounds yesterday. Preston Broce did. He had a couple of bad breaks in his round yesterday and shot nine shots better today. Paxton had a good, consistent tournament again. He tied for 10th in a 70-man tournament, which is good. Luke VanDeventer didn't play quite as well today but had a really good score yesterday. Overall, I thought we had a good, consistent performance. I think we are headed in the right direction. If we could put those scores together, we could have easily moved up, even as high as second."

The Trailblazers will now have a more than two-week break to prepare for their next tournament at the John A. Logan Fall Invitational at Kokopelli Golf Club in Marion, Ill.

The two-day tournament is set to begin on Monday, Sept. 26 and finish on Tuesday, Sept. 27.

"Each of our tournaments so far this season, we've talked about a couple of shots makes all the difference," Chattin said. "Hopefully we can gain something from that and this tournament. Finishing ahead of Fontbonne, which is a four-year school and Mineral Area, who have had some good tournament scores. Hopefully finishing ahead of them builds a little bit of confidence going down to Marion."

"Of course, there will be some good schools in Marion too," Chattin added. "John A. Logan is a NJCAA D-I school and has always had a really strong program, plus playing on their home course. It's a difficult golf course to play. It will be a good challenge for us, but I like to play down there because I like to play against good competition on good golf courses."

TEAM RESULTS

Campbellsville – 292, 288 – 580

Danville Area – 300, 297 – 597

St. Mary of the Woods – 296, 304 – 600

Rend Lake – 304, 305 – 609

VU 'Gold' – 305, 306 – 611

Fontbonne – 304, 310 – 614

VU 'Blue' – 315, 310 – 625

Mineral Area – 305, 320 – 625

Lincoln Trail – 325, 308 – 633

St Mary of the Woods (B) – 326, 328 – 654

Southeastern Illinois – 339, 326 – 665

Lincoln Trail (B) – 326, 344 – 670

VINCENNES SCORES

Paxton Schwomeyer (T10) – 72, 78 – 150

Preston Broce (T19) – 81, 72 – 153

Luke VanDeventer (T19) – 74, 79 – 153

Brant Tretter (T27) – 80, 75 – 155

Caleb Maris (T27) – 79, 76 – 155

Garrett Hulfachor (T33) – 76, 81 – 157

Nate Olson (T35) – 74, 84 – 158

Aaron Brink (T40) – 82, 77 – 159

Sam Stewart (T40) – 78, 81 – 159

Adam Leach (T42) – 80, 80 – 160

Caleb Newman (T46) – 82, 79 – 161