After the first two rounds of play in the NCAC Championship, the men’s golf team sits at seventh place with two more rounds remaining.
The Tigers shot a second round 316 following a first round 323 for an overall score of 639. Wittenberg is currently leading with a 579. Head Coach Vince Lazar is disappointed with how the team has played thus far.
“I’m disappointed. We are better than we played," he said. "We need to improve putting and identifying situations where accepting bogey [is better] than taking unnecessary risks that lead to higher hole scores."
Sophomore Andrew Derringer leads the team with a score of 157 after shooting a 79 today, while junior Quinn Smith shot a 81 to end with a 160. First-year Michael Wittenberg and senior Drake Dunaway are tied at 163, while sophomore Jackson Mihevc finishes off the lineup at 164 after two rounds of 82.
Wittenberg agrees with Lazar with regards to the team’s weekend performance.
“We seem to either struggle as a team, or we play well as a team, but never in the middle,” Wittenberg said, “which is great at times, but also it can be catastrophic, like this past weekend.”
Wittenberg shot the best round of the day for the Tigers on Sunday with a score of 77.
“I think that I managed the course pretty well this weekend, but my putting wasn’t there,” he said.
Going into next weekend, Wittenberg believes DePauw has some specific points of emphasis they will need to improve upon to finish off the tournament strong.
“We need to work on our approach shots and capitalize on opportunities,” Wittenberg said. “We are letting too many birdies and pars get away from us due to mental mistakes, or over-aggressive shots.
The team is back in action for round three of the championship on Saturday at the Wooster Country Club in Wooster, Ohio.