DETROIT (9/2/2019) -- Sophomore
James Hill ended the day with an eagle as he was one of three Titans to place in the top 50 as the University of Detroit Mercy men's golf team concluded its season opener in the Island Resort Intercollegiate on Monday.
The event was hosted by South Dakota State at the par 72, 7,375-yard Sage Run Golf Club in Harris, Michigan.
Hil posted a 226 (75-74-77) for a share of 42nd as did senior
Zack Tenerowicz (75-72-79), while sophomore
Anthony Occhiuto ended with a 227 (75-77-75) for 48th overall.
As a team, the Titans were ninth recording a 914 (305-306-303) as Liberty won with an 855, just ahead of Purdue (856), East Carolina (859), Central Florida (859) and Michigan State (860).
Detroit Mercy will be back in action in two weeks when the red, white and blue travel to Valparaiso for the Crusader Collegiate from Sept. 16-17.
Titan Scorecard:
Tournament Highlights:
- As a team, the Titans tallied 145 pars, 34 birdies and an eagle
- Sparks led the team with 34 pars, tied for the ninth-most in the event
- O'Rourke's nine birdies topped the team
- Tucci had the ace in round two on the par 3, 5th hole, landing his tee shot from 170 yards out for his first-ever hole-in-one
- Hill and Sparks played the course's par 3's to an even-par 3.00 average
- It was the first Titan hole-in-one since Aaron Knutson at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate in 2013
- In round one, Tenerowicz tallied an eagle on the par 4, 16th hole, sinking his second shot from the fairway
- Tenerowicz birdied his final 10 holes in round three
- Tenerowicz had the only par round for the Titans with a 72 in round two, where he had five birdies and eight pars
- Douglas played his final 13 holes at 2-under with 11 pars and two birdies
- Tenerowicz ended the tournament with 32 pars, while Tucci and Occhiuto had 31
- Hill knocked in eight birdies to go with his eagle, while Occhiuto finished with seven birdies
Coach Erik Taurence On The Event:
- "We played pretty well against some good competition. It was a tough field and the wind picked up in the second round, but we had a lot of good moments."
- "It was great to see Drew get his first-ever hole in one and we had some eagles out there with Zack and James finishing up the day."
- "The talent is there and I believe all of these guys can be in the starting line-up. We have to be more consistent overall as a team, but we definitely have the talent."
- "The course was demanding off the tee and the greens were hard to read, but we can do a better job overall in every part of the game."
