To begin the week, the Bruins golf team did not have to travel far as they competed in the Pioneers Fall Invitationals hosted by Spartanburg Methodist College. The five golfers that represented the Bruins team were Brandon Autry, Dakota Holt, Eli DeVaughn, DJ Waller, and Conner Ingle.

"Our first nine holes in round one may have been the best nine holes of the entire season," Head Coach Denny Scott said. "We had three guys at even par and our fourth guy was just 1-over par. The team posted just 1-over par as they made the turn to the second nine. This is what we were looking for in preparing for Nationals next week."

Conner Ingle was coming off of a great tournament in Columbia last week. On day one, the freshman didn't birdie but did great getting up and down amidst a challenging round. The big harm on his score was really only on one hole. While his day two score was similar, he was able to tally a birdie on the par-five ninth hole. He finished the tournament at +31 and 52nd place overall. 

Dakota Holt struggled on a couple holes during round, but stayed even par on the scorecard front nine. His two birdies on day one helped boost his overall score going into the second round in which he improved by six shots. He scored two straight birdies on the 18th and 1st holes, which was huge for his round. He also parred the par-four 10th hole which he quintuple-bogeyed the day before. His sense of calm helped him climb the leaderboard a little bit on day 2 to +22 and a 47th place finish.

Eli DeVaughn was another one of many golfers in the tournament that had a much cleaner front nine than back nine. A birdie on the first hole during round one helped give him a +1 score through 11 holes. After a challenging back-nine, DeVaughn came back for round two and improved by two shots. Birdies on holes nine and 15 were key in his +14 overall score and T34th finish.

DJ Waller played a great tournament. One double-bogey during round one was his only big blemish, and it was on a hole that the majority of the field struggled with, and even did worse. A birdie on hole one was the highlight of his first round. He had two more shots in round two than in round one, but improved a lot on the holes he struggled with during round one. His birdie on hole 10 helped him finish T23 place with a +10 score.

Brandon Autry scored the most birdies of any Bruin golfer with five. His three birdies in round one really gave him a boost after a tough start. The back-to-back birdies on holes nine and 10 were huge. His second round consisted of another set of back-to-back birdies that helped keep in under 80 shots with 79 on the round. After the two days, he placed the same as Waller: T23 with a +10 score.

The Bruins as a team came in ninth place with a 317 team score. "The struggles on the back nine resulted in a 317 team score which could have been about 15 strokes better," said Coach Scott. "However, that's just the way golf is sometimes. This was our first time playing at Cherokee National and our inexperience at this particular golf course was definitely a factor in the results we had."

Continuing on in his reflection, Coach Scott said this: "We learned to have a stronger mental focus and to sustain our energy through the entire round.  Overcoming adversity, frustration, and disappointment is also one of the most important takeaways from this event." 

Full results for the tournament can be found here.

Next up for the Bruins is the biggest tournament of the fall season: the NCCAA National Championship in Palm Coast, Florida next week. "The guys are still very excited to have the opportunity to contend for the NCCAA National Championship," said Coach Scott. "The experience of this week's tournament has not diminished that enthusiasm in any way."