The Binghamton golf team began its season at the Missouri/Turning Stone Invitational with an 11th-place finish. There were 15 schools competing in the tournament hosted by nationally ranked Missouri.

The Bearcats were plagued by poor playing conditions on opening day, posting scores of 327 (+39) and 313 (+25). The team improved slightly on Monday, tallying a 303 (+15) in the third round. The Bearcats ultimately finished with a score of 943 (+29).

“We improved as the weekend went on,” said BU head coach Bernie Herceg for bubearcats.com. “We didn’t finish like we wanted to on the last four or five holes today, but we putted better and struck the ball better.”

After a shaky start on Sunday with an opening round of 84 (+12), junior Zak Ottman only improved as the rounds progressed. In his second round on Sunday, he shot a 78 (+6), but turned things around on Monday when he shot two under par with a 70, giving him a total of 232 (+16). This score put him in a three-way tie for 28th place.

“Zak had a great final round today,” Herceg said. “He played very solid.”

Other notable placements by the Bearcats came from sophomore Tom Mandel, who tied for 35th place with a score of 235 (+19), and freshman Nacho Glagovsky, who finished in a tie for 41st place after posting a 238 (+22). There was a total of 87 players at the event.

“Tom improved every round and Nacho had a great second round on Sunday,” Herceg said.

Missouri won the tournament after pulling away from the pack in the first round. The Tigers posted scores of 288 (E), 276 (-12) and 280 (-8) in rounds one, two and three, respectively. They finished with a final score of 844 (-20), 50 strokes lower than second-place finishers UNC-Wilmington, who put up rounds of 313 (+25), 291 (+3) and 290 (+2) for a final total of 894 (+30).

The Bearcats will look to improve on their 11th-place finish as their season progresses.

“There are things for us to work on from this weekend, but there is also a lot to build off,” Herceg said. “I was pleased with how we got better as the tournament went on.”

Binghamton’s next appearance will be at the Alex Lagowitz Memorial Invitational in Hamilton, New York. Colgate will host the invitational on Sept. 9 and 10.