The menís golf team traveled to Richmond, Ky. last weekend to take part in the Eastern Kentucky Colonial Classic.

For the second tournament in a row, the weather played a vital role. The scheduled 54-hole event was shortened, due to heavy rains, to a 36-hole tournament. The teams participating played 18 holes on both Friday and Saturday.

The Falcons finished the first day in seventh place and were very much in contention. With an opening round of 298 the Falcons were in the top ten, but then came the rain.

The Falcons were able to play very well again, with a 299 on Saturday, despite the harsh conditions. The 299, however, was not good enough for the Falcons to maintain their seventh-place spot, and they were knocked down to eleventh place overall.

The team dropped four spots on the leader board despite shooting just one stroke higher than the first round.

ìWe struggled a little bit. The first round was canceled due to the weather and we had trouble getting on track. The weather didnít help us out at all, and I think the team was thrown through a loop with the bad conditions,î Andy Miller said. ìThe course was not in that great of shape and played a role in our teamís performance.î

The Falcons were led by the younger and less-experienced golfers once again. Sophomore Craig Pickerel was the Falconsí top scorer. Pickerel carded an opening round 76, which left him much work to do in the second round.

Pickerel responded with a second round of 69 and was just a few strokes away from the top ten, despite a disappointing first round. Pickerel finished tied for fourteenth in the nineteen-team tournament.

Miller was very impressed with Pickerelís performance, considering the conditions.

ìCraig played an excellent final round. With a bogey on 18 he was still able to shoot a 69, which was great on that course and in those conditions,î Miller said.

Austin Chase was also in the hunt for top ten. An opening round of 72 left Chase tied for 12th going in to Saturday. Chase, however, couldnít maintain that position and dropped to 28th place with a 76 on Saturday. The other Falcons struggled with the sloppy conditions and were unable to break the top fifty. Andy Miller and Chris Leake carded 153 each and tied for 72nd, while Bud Ziglar finished tied for 79th.

The Falcons have a week off before traveling to Cincinnati for the Xavier Invitational. This tournament will mark the end of the fall season for the Falcons on Oct. 15.