The Florida A&M golf team flourished during the FAMU Spring Invitational Golf Tournament on Saturday and Sunday, as it earned second place on Fred Couples course at the Southwood Golf Course.
This weekend marked the 20th consecutive year that FAMU hosted the tournament. It was also the team’s only home competition this season.
The two-day event began shaky for the Rattlers, but they gained momentum towards the end. FAMU fell short only to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rival Bethune-Cookman, which placed first with 579 points. FAMU followed closely with 585 points.
Golf head coach Marvin Green said he was pleased with the weather conditions and FAMU’s overall score during the tournament. However, he said a reason behind the team’s second-place finish was lack of consistency.
The Rattlers were accustomed to the course because they use it for practicing. But even so, they said they were unable to execute the way they expected.
“For the guys not to shoot the scores that they are normally able to shoot on this course is something we could’ve done a lot better with,” Green said. “We should not have made as many mistakes as we did.”
FAMU earned 292 points during the first round of the tournament on Saturday and 293 points during the second.
Justin Stills, a sophomore from Pensacola, Fla., was a key player this weekend. Stills led FAMU with 142 individual points. This season is Stills’ first year on the team.
“It would’ve been nice to win, but overall I feel we did pretty well,” Stills said. “I feel good about my game, and am looking forward to the next tournament.”
Shepherd Archie III, a senior from Augusta, Ga., earned an individual score of 144 points, the second-lowest score for FAMU. Archie said he needs to improve individually but was impressed with the team’s performance.
“I like where we are going,” Archie said. “Every tournament, were getting better. It needs to be a better performance from me, but as a whole, we are pretty solid right now.”
Although the Rattlers did not win the tournament, Green said the team members are determined to improve with the MEAC and National championships approaching.
“These are very sharp guys who are out there every day practicing and getting ready for conference championship and national championship,” Green said.
The MEAC Championship will be held on April 15-17 in Savannah, Ga.