The Miami University golf team jumped back into action, playing in their first two tournaments of the season in a span of just four days.

On Sept. 11, the golf team was in West Lafayette, Ind. competing in the Purdue/Midwest Shootout and on Sept. 13 and 14, the golfers traveled to Huntington, W.Va. for the Marshall Invitational. Finishing in second on Saturday and in sixth after Monday and Tuesday's rounds made one thing very clear for the RedHawks: they are capable of competing with elite golfers around the country, but it will require consistency, intensity and effort.

After Saturday's rounds, Head Coach Casey Lubahn was pleased with his team.

"Saturday was a good start," Lubahn said. "I think we put ourselves in position to have a great tournament even without our best stuff."

After the conclusion of the Marshall Invitational, the sentiment was quite different.

"Today we're kicking ourselves a little bit for not fighting a little harder, especially down the stretch," Lubahn said. "A little effort here, and a little effort there and the result is totally different."

Even throughout the somewhat disappointing tournament Monday and Tuesday, the team found some unmistakable positives.

"There were a lot of low scores," senior Nathan Sutherland said. "Austin (Kelly) shot low, (Matt) Stasiak and me shot low, almost everyone shot under par, so that's always good."

Lubahn was content with various aspects of his team's play.

"We had a lot of rounds under par, which is a good sign, and we hit pretty well, which is a good sign," Lubahn said. "We also had a freshman shoot a 131 over his last two rounds, which is pretty remarkable. I think we can do it, but our intensity has to be there for all 54 holes."

Freshman Austin Kelly was the standout golfer in the Marshall Invitational. Coming off a shaky performance in Saturday's tournament, Kelly bounced back finishing fourth overall in the individual scoring. Kelly was registered for the tournament as an individual, so his scores did not count toward Miami's team totals, but his performance was exceptional.

"I don't know if surprised is the right word because he's a good player, but he had a rough performance on Saturday at Purdue," Lubahn said. "I didn't know what to expect, but for him to come out and search for the right thing, then finding it and riding the momentum. That's difficult for a youngster to do — to keep making birdies, to keep the pressure on. Especially today, coming out and shooting a 66 really impressed me."

Sutherland was happy to see Kelly's success for a number of reasons.

"Obviously what Austin did was impressive," Sutherland said. "We can all say that when we were 18 that we wouldn't be able to shoot those scores. He's a good player, and it's a testament to our coach's hard work. He's obviously recruiting the right players."

Moving forward as a team, the RedHawks will be looking to capitalize on the contributions from the scores of each team member. In addition, they want to continue scoring under par and playing particularly well in their putting and their short game, an area in which they struggled last season.

The golfers travel to Lexington, Ky. Sept. 20 and 21 for the Cardinal Intercollegiate Tournament.