The Bobcats kicked off their 2025 season in Huntington, West Virginia, for Marshall’s Joe Feaganes Invitational. The team overcame early struggles to finish the invitational ten under par, tying for third place with Dayton and Marshall.
In the first round, the Bobcats got off to a slow start, finishing two over par. Making his Bobcat debut was freshman Jack Flores, who dominated the first round, shooting five under par, including an impressive clean sheet front nine with three birdies and six pars, while on the back nine.
Senior Will Kates followed him, finishing one over par. On the front, he finished two over with a birdie on the sixth, but turned it around on the back, shooting one under.
Senior Nathaniel Gray Lamont struggled, finishing two over par. On the front nine, he shot two over despite starting off hot with two birdies on holes one and four before picking up two bogeys on holes two and six and a double on the seventh. He recovered on the back nine, shooting even par.
Juniors Jack O’Donnell and Carson Trafford both got off to slow starts. O’Donnell finished four over par, while Trafford finished five over and freshman Rylan Hall rounded out the group shooting even par.
In the second round, the Bobcats flipped a switch by dropping 11 strokes as a team to finish -9. Gray Lamont and Trafford dominated both, finishing -4.
Gray Lamont finished with five birdies, 13 pars and one bogey. Trafford started with a clean sheet on the front with six pars and three birdies, while Kates finished his second round three under par, getting five birdies during his round.
Flores continued to turn heads, shooting two over, picking up four bogeys and a double bogey on the front nine with three birdies and a par. The back nine was magical for Flores as he started with a birdie on the tenth and an incredible eagle on the eleventh. He would go on to add five pars and a bogey.
O’Donnell finished the round five over par, including a solid front nine of two birdies, six pars and a bogey before finishing the back nine four over.
The final round saw more of the same from the Bobcats as they were three under par with four of their six golfers finishing even par or better. Headed by a dominant bounce back round from Hall, leading the team at four under par with six birdies, ten pars and two bogeys (both on front nine).
Trafford continued his dominance, shooting three under after getting back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th holes.
Gray Lamont finished one under, as he was solid on the front nine, shooting two under with four pars, three birdies and one bogey, but seemed to struggle a little on the back nine, shooting one over par
Flores finished even par with a two over on the front nine, picking up three bogeys, four pars and a birdie before flipping those numbers around to shoot two under par with three birdies and only one bogey.
Kates finished the final round at one over par with a strong front nine at one under par, starting off with a birdie on the first and a par before picking up a bogey on the third then finishing with a clean sheet the rest of the front nine with pars on holes 4-7 and adding a birding on eight before grabbing another par on nine. The back was a different story for Kates, as he picked up three bogeys to put him two over on the back nine.
O’Donnell shot his best round of the day, shooting two over par, finishing with four bogeys, two birdies, and 12 pars.
The team individually placed as follows, with Gray Lamont and Flores both placing 12th at -3, with Trafford following in 21st at -2, closely behind came Kates and Hall at 26th at -1, and rounding out the group came O’Donnell at +11 in 83rd.
The team finished the invitational in seventh for average score on par 4s at 4.04 and fifth for average score on par 5s at 4.54.
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