2024 NCAA Championship qualifier West Virginia kicked off its fall season on Sunday and Monday but underperformed in Minnesota.
The Mountaineers placed 12th out of 15 teams at the Gopher Invitational. Two Big 12 teams, Baylor and Iowa State, placed above WVU, at 10th and first respectively, despite Iowa State placing 12th in the conference last season and Baylor finishing just one place ahead of the Mountaineers at the Big 12 Championship.
Three of WVU’s NCAA Championship competitors, seniors Todd Duncan and Max Green and junior Kaleb Wilson, competed at Windsong Farm. Duncan and Wilson finished +5 across the three rounds to make the five-person tie for fifth, while Green golfed two strokes greater for a +7 score and tie for 27th place.
Duncan and Green both golfed even rounds during the competition, but only Wilson finished a round under par, golfing three strokes under in round two. Wilson struggled in the final round, posting a +7 after sitting at two-under-par, good enough for third place, after day one.
Two freshmen played with WVU in Minnesota. True freshman Ryan Leash finished tied for 69th at +21, with consistent rounds at +6, +8, and +7, and redshirt freshman Hugh Donegan posted rounds of 82-77-81=240 (+27) for 78th place out of 80 golfers.
Aside from the newcomers’ decent rounds, though, head coach Sean Covich knows there is not much to be satisfied with after the team’s first outing.
“This was a very disappointing opening tournament for our team,” Covich said. “I know we have more talent than what we showed this week. This should serve as a wake-up call to our guys that last season is over and it’s time to get to work.”
Green, who made PING’s All-Midwest Region Team last year and Duncan, who golfed a team-best score of +8 at the NCAA Championship, will look to recover at the end of the month’s Nemacolin Collegiate Invitational on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.
Photo from WVU Men’s Golf
