SUFFOLK, Va. -- At Sleepy Hole Golf Course on Monday, the Bridgewater College men's golf team competed in the first round of the VSGA Intercollegiate Championship. It was a day that featured higher than average scores and the Eagles had their highest team score of the season (324), which put them in seventh place.
 
Freshman Jack Thome, making just his second appearance in the starting lineup, tied for the low round for the Eagles for the second time in a row. Thome started on #15 in a shotgun start and had to face the toughest stretch of holes right out the gate, in a steady rain. As a result, he dropped four strokes early, but then leveled out and shot 38 after the turn. He said that his putts were not falling during the first round, and he came in with an 80.
 
Sophomore Max Bondurant, who leads the Eagles in scoring this season, started on the #1-handicap hole (#18), and got through that hole and the front nine in good form (+1), but said his tee shots cost him on the back nine. He hit his tee shot out of bounds on #10 and into trouble on #12 -- he dropped five strokes on those holes, but held on to shoot 80.
 
Senior Jacob Sears matched Thome and Bondurant with another 80. He handled the early rain well and was just +2 through eight holes. Sears was pleased with his ball-striking for most of the day, but said he just let a couple holes and putts get away from him. The three Eagles who shot 80 are in a tie for 23rd among 63 players.
 
Sophomore Logan Douthat followed the team pattern -- he was just +1 through a third of the holes, but struggled in the middle of the round where he dropped seven strokes in five holes. His 84 was the final number making up the team score.
 
Junior Hayden Hawes had four double-bogies on the front nine before leveling out to make par on six of his seven final holes. Hawes said he struggled with ball-striking from the bermuda grass fairways. He turned in an 85.
 
The Eagles' scores were impacted on Monday by an unusual number of holes above bogey, and that was true as well for sophomore Darien Smith who shot 86 with six of those tougher holes.
 
"This certainly wasn't the opening round we were looking for," said head coach John Rogers,"but it can still be a valuable experience. The remainder of the fall season and the bulk of the spring season will be played on bermuda grass, and we might as well make some adjustments now. Tomorrow is expected to be chilly and windy too, and that tends to be a part of the college-golf experience in late fall and spring. So our goal tomorrow will be to handle the circumstances better, and make a move up the leaderboard. It will probably hinge on whether we can avoid the big numbers."
 
Roanoke leads the tournament after posting a team score of 307 and Michael Thomas of CNU shot 71 (-1) to lead the individual championship. Play resumes Tuesday at 9 AM.