KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Christian University men's golf team headed north to the Kansas City area for their final regular season tune up on Monday and Tuesday. The Evangels took to the course for the 2018 Virginia McCoy Intercollegiate, hosted by Park University, and in a solid field, the Evangels finished eighth.
MACU (330-321) posted a team score of 651, finishing eighth in the 10-team field. The Evangels were one shot out of seventh place, and 44 shots off the pace set by the tournament hosts from Park. The Pirates (607; 303-304) won the event by seven shots over Columbia (Mo.) College (614; 306-308) and nine shots over Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) University (616; 308-308). Southeast Community College (626; 313-313) and William Penn (Iowa) University (627; 309-318) rounded out the top-five.
MACU struggled on day one, as none of the Evangels' five players entered scored in the 70s. Wyatt Bonds led the way with an 80, Followed by Tyler Price at 82, Isaac Maston at 83, Gage Gibson at 85, and Austin Davis at 88. The Evangels carded a 330 in the opening round, and overnight, they sat in seventh place.
On Tuesday, three of the Evangels' five scores improved, two of them significantly. Gibson fired a 76 to finish the event in 26th at 161. Maston knocked two strokes off his opening round total to shoot 81 and finish in a tie for 29th, and Davis shaved seven shots off his first round score, shooting 81 and finishing tied for 40th. Price finished the tournament with a final round 83, and Bonds shot 85, as the two finished in a tie for 31st individually.
MACU will have one last shot to qualify for the NAIA National Championship, and that will come at the Sooner Athletic Conference Championship. The Championship will be hosted by Oklahoma City University at Gallardia Country Club on April 23 and 24. The tournament will open with 36 holes on day one, and finish with a final 18-hole round on the tournament's second day.
