Chargers take eighth at Ken Partridge Invite

By Thomas McKenna Assistant Editor

The Hillsdale men’s golf team placed eighth out of 13 in a field full of regional rivals at the Ken Partridge Invite in Noblesville, Indiana.

“We were disappointed,” junior Will Verduzco said. “For the team overall, it was a lot better than what we did in Nashville but, still, we were not where we want to be and not where I want to be.”

Verduzco and sophomore Filippo Reale tied for 33rd in the tournament, shooting 226 over three days.

Verduzco said his consistent outing — carding 75-77-74 — was the product of persistence.

“You can start really bad and finish really good — that’s what I ended up doing,” Verduzco said. “Just taking it shot by shot and trying not to think about the future too much and, ultimately, what your score can be because it’s really just a culmination of taking things shot by shot. That’s just really why I was trying to focus on — staying present.”

Reale had a less consistent but equally successful outing, scoring 79-73-74.

“I had a tough first day,” Reale said. “I wasn’t on my best game but I was fairly happy with the other two or three days. Just like everyone else on the team, I think we can all say we could have done some things a little bit better. I think this is just one of a lot of tournaments where we weren’t maybe necessarily doing horrible, but we weren’t doing great. We have one more chance to do that.”

In addition to the 5-player lineup, sophomore Charlie

Belden joined the Chargers this weekend as an individual competitor. He shot a 78-78-73, finishing tied for 47th.

Belden said his short game improved in his third round to bring his score down by five shots.

“I felt like I hit it pretty much the same all three days,” Belden said. “The difference was just my chipping and putting around the greens. I made a couple more putts. On one of my closing holes, I chipped in for Eagle which brought me back to even for the day. Nothing like that happened on the first two days.”

The Chargers will travel to the University Club of Kentucky to play in the G-MAC Championships April 24-26. Reale said the team must win the conference championship to advance to the regional tournament.

“I think maybe this doall-or-end-all kind of tournament can bring out the best in us because we don’t have a choice,” Reale said. “We have to play well.”

Head coach Matt Thompson said the team’s approach to the conference championship tournament will not change.

“I think we have a good opportunity leading up to conference to go and make a splash,” Thompson said. “I think the tournament is pretty wide open. Just finishing in the top two is certainly something we’re capable of. Overall, we’re just looking for some guys to emerge. Hopefully, as they get into really good form over the next eleven days, we can bring a hungry group of guys to conference and have a chance to make a run.”