The BG men’s golf team traveled to Muncie, Ind. for the Earl Yestingsmeier Tournament placing in fifth, while Captain Jace Walker finished in third place individually.

This marks the third consecutive time the men have placed in the top five of a tournament.

BG finished much higher this year than last year in the tournament, and BG coach Garry Winger feels confident about that.

“Last year we placed either 13th or 14th,” said Winger. “Each week I look for them to improve and it’s exciting being able to watch them do just that.”

However, Walker said he believes they could have done more to win.

“We played kind of average,” Walker said. “We had a decent start and gave ourselves a chance to win but couldn’t quite finish it out.”

BG started the tournament off just five strokes out of second place.

“A lot of teams had good afternoon rounds,” Walker said. “They hit a lot of birdies and we didn’t.”

Those teams included Eastern Kentucky, who beat out BG last week for first place in the John Piper Intercollegiate, and Toledo, who took home first place.

Winger agreed with Walker’s sentiments.

“We put ourselves in the position to win,” Winger said. “The more times we do that the more times we will have a chance to win.”

Mid-American Conference player of the week Andrew Ladwig shot a 73, three-over, after 36 holes placing him in 15th place. Matt Schneider finished the first round off with a score of 69, one-under, earning a tie for ninth place.

Walker thinks his team can work on some things to get ready for their next tournament.

“We need to make more putts and birdies,” Walker said. “We have to make less errors.”

The team will take a few days off before they get ready for their next tournament, the Xavier Invitational, in Loveland, Ohio.

“We’re going to take few days off,” Winger said. “We played a lot of golf the past couple of weeks and then we’ll get back to work.”

Walker is looking forward to the tournament as well.

“A lot of good teams will be there,” Walker said. “We’ll have to play our best. We’re looking forward to that.”