The Miami University men's golf team was once again contending during the weekend, but a lackluster final round forced the team into a finish of ninth out of 14 teams at the Wolverine Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich.
As has been par for the season, junior Nathan Sutherland was the top finisher for the Red and White, posting an even par in the final round to finish the tournament at two under par, tying him for 14th place.
"I thought I performed very solid," Sutherland said. "I did some good things but I could have gotten a lot more out of my rounds. So I'm still looking to improve that in the future."
Head Coach Casey Lubahn continued to stress that Sutherland has the ability to be an elite player.
"Nathan hit the ball tee to green as well as anyone in the field," Lubahn said. "He needs to get a few more putts to go down, and we've been working with him on some alternative methods to help him with putting. If he makes a few more putts he can be a real player on the national stage."
Along with Sutherland, other top performers this season for Miami have been junior Michael Drobnick and senior Craig Voorhees. They finished in 52nd and 61st place, respectively.
"I think that Craig and Michael have been solid for us this season," Sutherland said. "There are some other guys that are improving, but me, Craig and Michael really need to be the core of the team."
Junior Matt Stasiak was the next highest finisher for the RedHawks, shooting a 75 in the final round to finish tied for 23rd place at three over par. The real story for Stasiak, though, was the six under par 66 he shot in the second round, the second lowest round of any golfer during the weekend.
"We've been kind of waiting for Matt to have his breakthrough tournament, and I think this was it," Lubahn said. "He's been packed with a lot of confidence on the road, and I think he finally told himself, 'Hey, I'm better than the scores I've been shooting.'"
Sutherland expressed his appreciation that someone else was able to step up in the tournament and take some of the pressure off of him.
"(Stasiak) is a great player and it was really good to see him bust out with that 66," Sutherland said. "There should be a lot more good rounds in him in the future and he can definitely become a big time contributor in the future."
The hosting Michigan Wolverines were the victors this weekend with a combined score of 24 under par. The 'Hawks were in sixth place after two rounds, but after the final round their combined score was 16 over par.
"We really need to have some more competition at home, so we can find out who's going to step up and really fill that role," Lubahn said. "Our guys need to realize that we're only as strong as our weakest link. We're really going to start putting them through the test at qualifying."
According to Lubahn, Miami's golf team is just one good round away from being able to compete with the elite teams.
"We once again had three solid scores in three rounds, but just fell one short," Lubahn said. "We were just one round short of beating some really good squads. So I was really happy with the performance, and I think it's a sign of things to come."
The RedHawks will next compete Oct. 5 and 6 at the Fighting Irish Invitational in South Bend, Ind.
