M. Golf: Eagles finish 9th at Heart Championship
Kansas City, MO - The season came to a close for the Avila men's golf team on Tuesday afternoon as they earned a ninth place finish at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship at Swope Memorial Golf Course in Kansas City, Mo.
The Eagles found themselves in tenth place after the first round of the tournament, but shot eleven strokes better than Central Methodist over the final two rounds to climb into ninth place after the final round.
Taylor Livingston led the way for the Eagles, shooting a 235 for the tournament. He was by far the most consistent golfer for Avila on the week, shooting at a 78/77/80 clip to earn a 32nd place finish overall.
Jackson Gurley finished just two strokes behind Livingston, finishing with a 237 in what proved to be an up-and-down tournament for the junior. Gurley shot a 75 in the second round, the lowest round for any Eagle in the tournament, but ran into trouble on a couple of holes each round that kept him from making a run at the Top 10.
In their first season as full members of the Heart of America Athletic Conference, the Grand View Vikings took the Heart Championship on Tuesday with a final team score of 871, 18 strokes in front of runner-up Mount Mercy, also a newcomer to the conference.
Conditions were wet for all three rounds of the Heart Championship, but overall the grounds crew at Swope Memorial did a fantastic job of making sure the course was playable on both days. The players dealt with some rain on Monday, and the course was wet on Tuesday after a storm dropped nearly 2.5 inches of water on Monday night, but the course held up nicely.
Avila Head Coach Chad Habluetzel said he was very happy with how smoothly the tournament ran, and gave the credit to the crew at Swope Memorial.
"Since this was the first time we (Avila) have hosted the Heart Championship, I wanted to make sure we did everything the right way, and the crew at Swope (Memorial Golf Course) did a fantastic job as usual," Habluetzel said. "This is the third tournament we have hosted this season at this course, and it is a fantastic tournament course, and I think everyone was very happy with how it all unfolded."
With the close of the Heart Championship on Tuesday came the end of a career for Avila's lone senior, Gunnar Kodas. Kodas was a two-time captain for the Eagles, and endured a lot of change in his time with the team, including coaching changes.
Coach Habluetzel said he has never met a tougher player, and that the team will miss the stability that Kodas brought to the team.
"Gunnar has been a great asset to this program since I took over, and he helped make the transition between coaching changes very seemless, and I commend him for that," Habluetzel said. "He has seen a lot of changes in this program, but he has proved his toughness time and again with how he handles himself on and off the golf course, and our program is really going to miss him next season."
While the team showed more improvements from the 2014-15 campaign this season, the 2016-17 season is looking very bright as Gurley and Livingston will be entering their senior seasons for the team, and Habluetzel has multiple recruits that he feels will help the program take another step forward next season.
Heart Championship - Individual Results
