FAMU golf barely misses first place finish in Hall of Fame tourney

FAMU men's golf team at the 2017 Savannah State Invitational.
Photo Courtesy of FAMU Athletics.

After a less than ideal start to the season, Florida A&M men’s golf team finished in second place at the 2018 Black College Hall of Fame Division I Tournament in Atlanta last weekend.

The Rattlers opened the season with a seventh-place finish at the Thomas University Fall Invitational on Sept. 24-25. Despite the slow start to the season, the Rattlers have kept their hopes up and have remained mentally sharp.

“The strength of the team has been our mental toughness,” junior Cameron Riley said. “Even though we've gotten bad breaks and not been swinging well we've been able to grind it out and keep ourselves in the competition.”

Their mental toughness payed off, and on Sept. 29 the team placed No. 2 in the Hall of Fame tournament and missed first place by only one stroke. Prairie View A&M golf edged out FAMU 579 to 580, but Riley, who finished third in the individual competition, said he thought the team played well even though there’s room for improvement.

“Personally, I feel like our performance over the weekend was strong but not nearly our best as our team is very talented this season. Our weaknesses have been slow starts to our rounds, lack of putts going in and sickness as two of our players had flu symptoms through the stretch of our first two tournaments. Preparing for the Gulf Shores tourney we are really working on honing in our wedges and getting off to better starts so that we get in the lead at the beginning of the tourney and stay there,” he added.

Riley shot a 36-hole 142 total over the weekend but was not the only Rattler to place in top three individually. Mulbe Dillard placed second overall for the Rattlers, finishing with a team low 141 over the two days. Alejandro Toro Cupril and Ethan Mangum also made it in the top 15 finishing at 148 and 149, respectively.

The Rattlers have a long break before their next outing at the Gulf Shores Collegiate Tourney in Alabama on Oct. 21, but shortly after that, they open MEAC play in the Savannah State University Invitational on Oct. 29.