MUNCIE, Ind. – The Vincennes University Golf team faced a tough, early season test Friday at the 2024 IU East Invitational hosted at the Delaware Country Club in Muncie.
The Trailblazers found themselves as the only two-year program in the tournament for the first time this season, going up against some big four-year teams, including an NCAA Division I team from Chicago State University.
The Vincennes team was more than able to hold their own in this tough tournament, finishing fifth overall as a team and were just four shots back of the third place teams.
The Trailblazers were led by freshman Brock Naile (Trico, Ill.) who posted an opening round score of 74 before closing out the 36-hole, one day tournament with a second round 77, placing him in a tie for 12th place on the leaderboard of 62 golfers.
Freshman Landon Gardner (Danville, Ind.) was close behind him, having the biggest round-to-round improvement on the team, bouncing back from an opening round 81 to shoot a one over par 71 in the second round, climbing the leaderboard to finish in a tie for 14th overall.
Freshman Kadin Gibson (Franklin, Ind.) was the next Vincennes finisher, posting a 77 in the opening round, before ending his day with a second round 79 to place 21st overall.
Sophomore Alex Nealis (Olney, Ill.) came away with a very consistent tournament, shooting 80 in both rounds to finish in a tie for 31st overall.
Freshman Parker Steininger (Vincennes, Ind.) rounded out the Trailblazers day on the course by shooting a pair of 81’s to finish 36th on the leaderboard.
The Trailblazers as a team combined to shoot an opening round score of 312 and a 307 second round, giving them a tournament team score of 619 to finish fifth overall out of 11 teams.
“We were disappointed in our overall finish of fifth at Delaware Country Club,” VU Hall of Fame Golf Coach Dennis Chattin said. “It’s a tough course and the greens were very firm and fast but as they say, we were all playing the same course.”
“I think our freshmen just didn’t adapt as quickly as we should have to the conditions of the golf course,” Chattin added. “We just kept attacking the pins and you simply cannot do that with the condition of those greens. The greens were good but just firm and fast.”
“Landon did the best job of adjusting with a 10 shot improvement in the second round, shooting a 71, which was the third lowest score in the second round,” Chattin said. “We had some big numbers in what could have been decent rounds by Kadin Gibson and Brock Naile.”
“Four of these guys are freshmen and I think the experience of walking and playing 36 holes in a day was new for most of them,” Chattin added. “You really have to be physically and mentally focused to play on a different golf course than your home course under tournament conditions. It was a good learning experience for us.”
The VU golf team will look to learn from these early season tournaments and improve in their next tournament when the Blazers head to Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth, Ind. for the 2024 Swan Lake Preview Tuesday, Oct. 1.
This will be another big tournament for the VU Golf team as they will get their first look at the course that will be hosting the 2025 NJCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships in
