The Midwestern State golf teams had quite an eventful semester with men and women’s sides competing in two tournaments apiece.

The Charles Coody West Texas Invitational was the men’s first tournament of the season and the Mustangs finished eighth overall with a total score of 591.

Freshman Santiago Gomez tied for 17th as he shot a 69 the first day and a 76 the second.

Sophomore Derek Oland placed 24th after shooting a 69 and a 77.

“We’re disappointed with the first tournament because we finished eighth but we bounced back at the Territory which we finished third,” said Jeff Ray, head golf coach. “I really believe we’re among the top seven or eight teams in the region.”

After a run of the mill performance at West Texas, the Mustangs made an excellent improvement, which was evident as they placed third with 605 at the Territory Classic in Duncan, Oklahoma.

Preceding Midwestern State were the University of Incarnate Word (603) and Abilene Christian University (604).

“We were two shots out of first,” Ray said. “The team played really well.”

Oland and Gomez did not fail to impress Ray at the Territory Classic as they led the Mustangs on the scoreboard. Oland shot a 75 the first day and a 72 the second day as he tied for fourth while Gomez tied for ninth with a 74 and a 76.

Raine Copeland also had an impressive golf game with 75-77 at 18th. Jeremy LeGuen (78-80), Antonio Herran (76-92) and Ian Gallagher (81-87) tied for 41st, 63rd and 63rd respectively.

“We played like one of the top teams at the territory even if we didn’t play like it at Abilene,” Ray said. “We hope to be more consistent as we look forward to great tournaments.”

MSU will be hosted by Texas A&M Commerce on the Tribute Golf Course in Dallas on Nov. 4 – 6.

The 13th ranked women’s team finished second out of 14 teams at the Lady Buff Stampede hosted by West Texas A&M University. The Lady Mustangs were four strokes out of first with a total of 623 while Lubbock Christian won the tournament with a score of 619.

Kendra Whittley finished second with a score of 73-76.

“She had a great tournament,” commented Ray. “She had a chance to win it all.”

Lauren Romines ended up at 15th as she shot an 81-76. Lindsay Burkhart shot a 78-80 and placed 18th.

The women’s team had an individual contender who finished 41st after shooting 87-78. Freshman Kynzee Mann participated in the tournament mainly to kick off her collegiate golfing career.

“This is a good tournament to get her feet wet,” Ray said. “We didn’t have to worry about a team score but that’s a good way sometimes to get them started.”

MSU then participated in the Angelo State Concho River Classic where the women’s team finished 2nd below the No. 4 St. Edwards.

Women’s golf beat the No. 5 ranked Tarleton State University by three strokes. The team’s total was 300 the first day and 303 the second. Whittley had another great tournament as she tied for fifth after shooting 77-72 for a total of 149. Moore was able to tie for ninth with a 75-75 finish.

“They really have the chance to win every tournament they go to,” Ray said. “They are very talented golfers.”

The women’s golf team will play the Dallas Baptist tournament from Oct. 14-16 and the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Tournament at Cameron University Oct. 21-23.

“My expectations for the girls are very high,” Ray said. “We finished in the top 15th in the nation last year and I have them all back.”

Ray said he intends to practice hard with the teams as they try to overcome their weaknesses.

“We’ll need to practice every day and work on our weaknesses,” he said. “We try to stay sharp by playing a lot and spending a lot of time as a team out there chipping and putting.”