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Wheeling, W. Va. – For the first time since the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Wheeling University Men’s Golf team served as host for the Wheeling Invitational. The Cardinals welcomed 10 Men’s Golf teams to the Belmont Hills Country Club and, after 18 holes, the Cardinals found themselves sitting fourth overall. Wheeling had one golfer crack the top 10 of the event, while three of the five golfers shot +2 or better in the opening invitational of 2025.
Leading the way for Wheeling was Troy Loughry, who finished 18 holes sitting at an even par (71). He started his day on hole one and got into a groove early, hitting three straight pars to start his day. He was able to keep the good times rolling with a birdie on hole four to drop his score to –1. It would be the first of two birdies on the front nine for the graduate student, as he added one more on hole 8. It was a bounce back after having a slow three-hole stretch, and he headed to the back nine sitting at +1. He immediately evened out his score, shooting birdie on hole 10, and would get back under par with another two holes later. Despite adding two strokes to his score on the next five holes, Loughry would end the day strong, recording his fifth birdie on hole 18 to round out his day with an even par. It was enough to crack the top 10 for the graduate student as he got off to a strong start to his Wheeling career.
Sitting behind him were a pair of Cardinals sitting at +2 in Lodin Femoen and Sean Dobson, each shooting a 73. Femoen would get out to the stronger start of the two on the front nine, paring on his first hole. He would end up hitting birdie on two of the next three holes, but evened up his score through six. He would remain even the rest of the front nine, adding three straight pars heading into the turn. The back nine would see him add the two strokes to his score, shooting a 38, to finish with the 73 on the day. Dobson had the opposite effect, shooting +2 on the front nine before turning things around down the final stretch. He started the back nine off strong, birdieing on holes 10 and 12 to get himself back to even. He would add just one more stroke to his day and finished -1 on the back nine to bring him to +2 for the day.
The final two golfers on the Cardinal’s varsity squad were Elias Ekenes-Fosback and Zak Collins. Eskenes-Fosback was the fourth and final folder to factor into the team score, shooting a 75 (+4) on the day. He was consistent throughout the day, shooting +2 on both the front and the back nine, finishing with one birdie. Collins would round out the day for the team, shooting a 76 (+5) through 18 holes. He would go +2 on the front nine to start the day, and added three strokes to his day on the back nine to round things out.
The Wheeling University Men’s Golf team returns to action on day two of the Wheeling Invitational, with tee times beginning at 9 AM.
