William Penn Finishes Fourth in McPherson

McPherson, Kan.--The William Penn men's golf team came away with a top-four finish as it competed at the Central Kansas Classic on Monday and Tuesday.

The navy and gold tied for fourth out of 10 teams with a three-round score of 887 (297-292-298) at Turkey Classic Golf Course.

Iowa Western Community College took first place after shooting 849 (280-283-286).

Topping the rankings for individuals in the 64-player field was William Walsh of Iowa Western CC at 205 (71-67-67).

Mario Palain (Fr., Zaragoza, Spain, Business Management) led the Statesmen and tied for 10th overall with a score of 217 (75-71-71). Palain tallied seven birdies throughout competition, four coming in the second round.

Archie Branks (Fr., Sydney, Australia, Sports Management) and Tyler Pedretti (So., Upland, Calif., Business Management) tied for 17th with scores of 221. Branks managed the score with rounds of 75, 73, and another 73. Pedretti did so with scores of 72, 73, and 76.

The next Statesmen in line was Samuel Arnaud (Fr., Saint-Maur-des-Fosses, France, Biology) in 34th place at 230 (75-75-80). Four of Arnaud's five birdies came on par-four holes.

Alvaro Rodriguez (So., Gijon, Spain, Business Management) finished 35th overall to round out the varsity lineup, recording 231 (76-77-78) strokes.

Clay Morse (Jr., Sigourney, Iowa, Business Management) competed as an individual for William Penn. Morse was only one stroke and one place behind Rodriguez, tying for 36th at 232 (76-79-77).

"The guys did a good job coming back in the afternoon and we played most of the round under par as a team," Head Coach Darin Fisher said.  "We still struggle closing our rounds out, but I feel that will come with more experience.  I know what goals they have so we need to keep working, limit the silly errors, and close out events.  When we can put it all together, I feel like we're going to be very competitive in our conference."

Next Up: The Statesmen take a couple weeks off before competing at Bos Landen Golf Course in Pella for the Central Classic on October 6-7.