By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director
University Park, Pa. - The Penn State Mont Alto golf team made its fall debut on Thursday, Sept. 7 in a beautiful morning at the PSUAC Invitational at Penn State's Blue Course in State College. The Lions competed against the eight other Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) schools that field a golf team with Mont Alto finishing fifth with a team score of 343.
As a team, Mont Alto's 343 strokes was just seven strokes behind second-place team Lehigh Valley and 25 shots behind PSU Dubois who took home the championship of the event with a carded score of 318.
Owen Groft (Hanover, Pa. / New Oxford) led Mont Alto with a 77 on the par-72 course. Groft finished fourth out of the 49-compeitor field, with the next closest teammate being Tom Shearer (Chambersburg, Pa. / Chambersburg Area) who carded an 83.
Freshman Robert Sirk (Waynesboro, Pa. / Waynesboro Area) made a terrific debut for the Lions finishing with an 84. Rounding out the Mont Alto competitors was Erika Cauffman (Waynesboro, Pa. / Waynesboro Area) who shot a 99, which was good for 35th, and senior Dayne Connor carded a 104.
Penn State Mont Alto return to action in a week and a half when it competes in the Elizabethtown College Invitational at the Hershey Country Club on Sept. 19 at 12 p.m.