By Keith Hall

As the saying goes, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas;” however, this weekend the Hounds are hoping that is not the case for the Jackrabbit Invitational. This Sunday the golf team will jump on a plane leaving behind dreary Baltimore and find themselves in sunny Nevada with the hopes of bringing home a win, which would be their first of the year. This is the Hounds second tournament of the spring season, and the first time that they have played in this event. They are looking to produce a solid showing in hopes of producing some much needed confidence for the remainder of the season. Upon landing, the team will play a practice round Sunday afternoon. Tournament play will begin early on Monday with a grueling day of thirty-six holes. Following on Tuesday will be eighteen holes to conclude play. Tournament host South Dakota State, as well as 14 other notable schools, will make up the tournament field. The tournament is being played at the Desert Course of Primm Valley Country Club which was the site of the 2007 World Series of Golf, making it a suitable test for all players in the field.

Today play was concluded at the Jackrabbit Invitational, and the Hounds left with the positive feeling that they are heading in the right direction. Assistant Coach Michael Mulieri commented on the Hounds play, saying, “This is a strong showing for the team to gain some momentum headed into the main stretch of our spring schedule.” Play on the first day for the team was overall very solid. Heading down the stretch in the first round all five players found themselves close to even par. However, a few bad breaks caused the Hounds to falter a bit. The second eighteen played out in much the same manner. Junior Alex Redfearn and sophomore Ryan McCarthy led the hounds with solid play. Redfearn posted a two round total of 149 placing soundly tied for 12^th place, while McCarthy posted a 151 leaving him a few shots behind in 20^th place. The three remaining hounds overall played very solid with Jay Mulieri, Jason Burton, and Patrick McCormick finishing tied for 46^th, 62^nd, and 81^st. The hounds found themselves sitting respectively in seventh place.

The final day ended with the Hounds putting together the strongest eighteen hole performance of the year, giving a brief example of what the team is capable of producing when all the players are firing on all cylinders. Throughout the tournament, the team played “with confidence and for each other,” according to Assistant Coach Mulieri. Leading the hounds this round was sophomore Jay Mulieri with superb posting of 70, freshman Jason Burton followed next with 72, Alex Redfearn 74, sophomore Patrick McCormick fired a 74 as well, and Ryan McCarthy rounded out the team with a 78. Jay Mulieri comments on his and the team’s play saying, “I played well, everything started to click this week, it was a great tournament and we all had to be patient, overall the team made great progress.” And they really did. After firing a team total of 290 for the third round the Hounds were able to move up a spot, finishing in sixth place. Walking off the course Mike Mulieri comments on the teams overall outlook saying, “every member of the team is motivated and with some more hard work I have no doubt we can contend in every tournament we enter.” And contend they will, there next tournament will be in a few weeks when they head to Towson’s yearly tournament in Annapolis, Maryland.