TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Vincennes University golf team got their top two scorers back this weekend for the two-day Battle of the Woods tournament at Hulman Links in Terre Haute.
While they were still battling lingering injuries, the Trailblazers showed tremendous improvement on another tough course in windy conditions to come away with a third-place finish as a team.
The two-day, 36-hole tournament began Saturday morning with the first round and the Blazers looked to be in great shape after the first 18 holes of the tournament.
Freshmen Alex Nealis (Olney, Ill.) and Andy Clark got off to a great start, finishing the first round with a six-over 78, placing them in a tie for fifth on the individual leaderboard.
Sophomore Aaron Brink (Nashville, Ill.) returned to the course after an injury to shoot a first round 80, good for a tie for 10th after the first day.
Sophomore Preston Broce (Indianapolis, Ind.) also returned to the links after an injury and was ablet to come away with a first day 81 for a tie for 13th.
Freshman Xavier Brown (Franklin, Ind.) rounded out the VU golfers Saturday with an 89, putting him in a tie for 24th overall.
The Trailblazers looked to be well within striking distance of top spot on the team leaderboard, ending the first round with a team score of 317 in second place, nine shots out of first.
The Blazers returned to Hulman Links Sunday morning for the final round of the tournament and the windy conditions and injuries again looked to get the better of VU.
Preston Broce led the Blazers Sunday with an 80, giving him a tournament score of 161 and a tie for 5th place finish overall.
Broce tied with fellow VU sophomore Aaron Brink, who finished his round Sunday with an 81, giving him a tournament score of 161 as well.
Alex Nealis slid a little in the windy conditions, shooting an 84 on Sunday but was still able to place in the top-10 in a tie for 8th.
Andy Clark shot an 88 on Sunday, giving him a tournament score of 166 and a tie for 15, before the Blazers were rounded out by Xavier Brown, who had the biggest improvement from round one with an 86 on Sunday and a tournament score of 175 for a tie for 22nd place finish.
The Trailblazers as a team shot a 331 on Sunday, giving them a tournament total of 648 which was good for a third-place finish as a team.
