MONTERREY, MEXICO — The Richmond men’s golf team tied for second in the Monterrey Collegiate Classic Saturday, finishing the 54-hole event at 10-under par (854). The Spiders tied UTRGV for second in the 12-team field, trailing only VCU (30-under 834).
It was a solid finish to the fall season, said Spiders coach Adam Decker. We certainly have a lot of guys who can shoot low scores and lead the team any given week.
The lowest Spider on the individual leaderboard was junior Quin Polin, who tied for second among the event’s 71 golfers at 7-under par, tying the 13th lowest tournament score in program history. Polin shot rounds of 68 (-4), 70 (-2), and 71 (-1) to record the first top-five finish of his collegiate career.
I’m happy for Quin to have his highest finish to date. He’s gotten better each year and I’m looking forward to him continuing that trend, said Decker.
Polin finished one shot in front of sophomore Carson Baez, who tied for sixth at 6-under par (210), his lowest tournament score and lowest tournament finish of the season.
My putter was the highlight for once, said Baez. I felt like my game was in a similar spot to recent weeks, but I managed to focus in a bit better and continue to decimate the par 5s to get myself in the mix. I feel a bit disappointed coming up short, knowing how many opportunities I had, but it’s always a good feeling knowing I know what the issue is and how I can attack it.
Baez played the par 5s at Club Campestre in a combined 10-under during the event, tied for best of any golfer in the field.
Junior Jack LaPiana also finished in the top 20, tying for 19th at 1-under par (215). LaPiana finished in the top 25 in each of Richmond’s five events this fall, the only Spider to do so.
Senior Drew Carlin rebounded from an opening-round 79 (+7) to play his final 36 holes in 1-over par, finishing tied for 52nd at 8-over par (224). Also at 8-over was junior Parker Moellinger, who was competing as an individual.
Freshman Lucas Rizo-Patron tied for 60th at 11-over par (227).
Richmond’s second-place finish was its third top-five result in five events this fall, combined with UR’s tie for first in the season-opening Metropolis Intercollegiate and its fourth-place finish earlier this month at Georgia Southern’s Bash in the Boro.
The team battled all fall, said Baez. We had a handful of rounds that weren’t our best, but also had a handful that show exactly what we’re made of. I think I can speak for each of us when I say if we can hone in the same vibe we have playing at home when it’s relaxed and not so uptight, that’s when we play our best.
Once we get a little more consistent through the entire three tournament rounds, we will contend more, added Decker.
