After a fourth place finish at the Messiah Falcon Classic last week, the Elizabethtown College golf team looked to improve on their performance in the Penn State Harrisburg Invitational this past Sunday and Monday. In last week’s Classic, junior Adam Amspacher set the bar for Blue Jay golfers when he shot a nine-over-par 81 for his round, and a hard earned nine-over at that.
After the Penn State Harrisburg Invitational Sunday and Monday, the team placed fourth once again. According to sophomore Kyle Hakun (who himself shot a 75 and an 81 for the two days), the team played well and credits much of the team’s success to head coach Jim Reed. “[Coach Reed] has been an amazing addition to our golf program,” Hakun explains. “His experience and expertise is second to none.”
At practices, Reed holds high expectations of his golfers, which Hakun believes to be a contagious mentality throughout the team. Hakun holds himself to an exceptionally high standard. Shades of Coach Reed’s expectations have certainly rubbed off on this athlete. However, in matches, Reed takes his foot off the gas and is “…nothing but supportive and helpful.”
“Good golf isn’t about hitting perfect shots,” Hakun said. “It’s about limiting and minimizing poor ones.” In his second year on the team, he proved to be one of the elite golfers in the Mid-Atlantic Conference (MAC). He hopes to continue his run in future competition.
Although Hakun looks forward to the challenge, he will miss the MAC Championship and what it means for their program. “It is a bit disappointing to not be able to compete in the MAC conference championship event,” he said. “However, we now have some more freedom with our schedule and can play in different events that we haven’t entered into in the past.”
Some old MAC rivalries will not be forgotten, as Messiah and Stevenson play in many of the events they attend. In addition to those competitors, York College and Franklin & Marshall College will be tough competition in the coming season. This was evident in their tournament this past weekend, as they finished behind York College and Franklin and Marshall College, and tied Stevenson at fourth place.
In that tournament, three of Etown’s top four golfers finished in the top 20, including senior Ryan Laudeman, who made it his second top-10 finish of the fall season. Hakun and fellow sophomore Chuck Johnston finished 14th and 18th, respectively, rounding out the Blue Jays’ top-20 representation. Their current performance stems from this team’s mentality of helping each other improve their game.
“As a team we have improved our relationships with each other,” says Hakun. “This has made it easier, this season especially, to communicate ideas and thoughts about our swings and golf games.”
The Jays only lost two players after last season: senior Zach Cook to graduation and sophomore Austin Bennett to transfer. Cook’s leadership and Bennett’s persistence and commitment will be missed, but four first-years: Craig Eidle, Chris Heuer, Brian Priebe and Adam Strayton have come in to fill the ranks and give this team some depth.
Looking forward, the Blue Jays will play in the Alvernia Invitational at LedgeRock Golf Club on Oct. 7.
