Golf | Hawks slip to ninth on Atlantic-10 links

The Saint Joseph's golf team carded a ninth place finish in the 12-team field at the Atlantic 10 Championships last weekend at the par-71 course at the Mission Inn Resort in Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla.

St. Joe's was in seventh place after round one of the three round tournament, but fell back one place each of the next two days. The Hawks' final score of 939 was 67 strokes behind champions Charlotte, but just two strokes behind eighth-place finisher George Washington.

Leading the way for St. Joe's was Bill Macknis, '10, who finished 24th overall out of the 60-golfer field with a score of 77-78-77/232 (+19). He was one of the few Hawks who finished the weekend as strong as they started, holding onto the 23rd-ranked position he had at the end of day one play.

Just behind Macknis was Jimmy Bea, '12, who rode a strong final round into a tie for 27th place. His weekend of 77-81-76/234 (+21) had him placed as high as 23rd after day one, before falling to 31st and rallying for a top 30 finish.

Steve Hudacek, '09, was not as fortunate, as he struggled to a 32nd-place finish thanks to a rough final two days. Hudacek left the course on day one with a one-over-par 72 to put him in a tie for sixth, but successive 83s left him with a total score of 238 (+25).

Zach Smith, '10, was a pleasant day three surprise, as he put up a 76 to climb into 42nd place. His Sunday score helped him recover from rounds 82 and 83 earlier in the tourney, and landed him an overall score of 241 (+28). Josh Webb, '11, was just one stroke behind in 43rd place (82-80-80/242 (+29)).

- M.D.