Sophomore golfer Adam Ferguson placed an impressive sixth place overall as an individual at the three-day Midwest Conference Championships which were held at Aldeen Golf Club in Rockford, Ill. Finishing in the top 10, Ferguson earned his place on the all-conference team. “Other than a few mistakes, I played pretty well all weekend. A few holes gave me consistent problems, so I’m looking forward to going back next year and getting my revenge on those,” commented Ferguson.
Ferguson led the Vikings by shooting a 240 with rounds of 77-81-82, just 13 shots off the leader last year and 16 off this year’s champion. As a whole, the team placed in a three-way tie for fourth with both Carroll College and Ripon College. Ferguson commented, “I think we could have done better, we all need to work hard all summer to shave some strokes off our games.”
The Vikings also had a large contribution from sophomore Tom Vyskocil who tied for 17th by shooting a 252, with rounds of 81-84-87. Other notable finishes included freshman Jon Mays who tied for 23rd with a 256, freshman Wonjae Sung at 27th place with a 260, junior Jim Breen who tied for 28th with a 261 and sophomore Andrew Russell who tied for 40th with 272.
“The course is extremely fair. It’s a little shorter than what we usually play but the greens are tricky. You have to position your ball in the right area on the green because if you don’t, its easy to 3 putt,” Ferguson said about the course. The tournament was held at Aldeen Golf Club on May 1-3. The course displays exceptionally manicured bent grass greens through its gently rolling hills, mature trees, beach bunkers and challenging water features. There is a creek that runs through the front nine which contains the eighth hole with its island green and replica of the Swilcan Bridge at St. Andrews. Overall, the course provides a challenging and beautiful test for golfers.
The weather was not exactly the greatest for golf, posing another challenge for the team. With a high of only 68 degrees and wind speeds of 10-15 mph with gusts of up to 47 mph, it is hard to golf. Ferguson said, “The 14th hole for example, the first day I went driver sand wedge and the last day I hit a driver and 4-iron as best I could and just got on the front of the green, so it almost played like a different course.”Congratulations to the Lawrence men’s golf team on a great year! Ferguson is looking forward to next year: “I need to improve my game and not make so many stupid mistakes if I want to win this thing as an individual, which is something I’d love to accomplish before I leave Lawrence.
Ferguson named to All-Conference team
