By Alexandria Webb
On Monday, April 13, Grand Rapids Community College men’s golf took third place in their home invitational. Falling to Marian-Ancilla, and Mott Community College.
Head Coach Chris Sobiek was disappointed by the outcome of the invitational.
“Well coming in third was not our goal, and our number one player having his worst collegiate round that he’s ever had, is not ideal,” Sobiek said. “We should have won by ten shots but golf doesn’t care about that,”
Sobiek finds that each golf outing comes with its learning curves.
“It’s a, “we will learn and we will get better”, that’s what we’ll do from here on.. all those things add up, they’re building blocks,” Sobiek said. “It’s a good experience for them (the team), we’ll be winning in a short time.”
Towards the end of the invitational there was a battle to take first position for individual placement. The Raiders were represented by Freshman Carson Osborn as he played against Hunter Zdyb of Marian-Ancilla. They went twice at the same hole, both resulting in a tie.
Eventually they moved to a different hole for the final playoff. Osborn hit a beautiful drive into the fairway, yet getting the ball into the green was another challenge. Where the ball had landed gave Osborn a difficult advantage, resulting in him missing the hole, taking home second place.
“I hit a bad iron shot, I shouldn’t have hit three inches behind it. I had a good one in the first round and I should have just executed better, that’s on me,” Osborn said.
Sobiek was proud of the hard work put in by Osborn, knowing this loss will only build up his skills.
“Even though he lost today, this was a valuable experience for him. He’s a great player, and it’s too bad he didn’t win, but he was there,” Sobiek said. “… I mean he shot seventy-three last Friday, and seventy-four today, so he’s doing a really good job. And for him, he’s trying to learn to take that next step.”
Overall, Osborn reminds himself that these minor errors will prepare him for what’s ahead.
“…I left a lot of shots out there, but I definitely could have played better which is good for the future,” Osborn said.
Battles for positions such as Osborn’s, show how golf can be intense for these athletes.
Osborn shares what he enjoys about the sport, “The competitiveness, I like going out here and playing with my teammates and then against other people. It’s just really fun.”
On Friday, April 17, the Raiders will travel to Jackson, Michigan to play at the Jackson College Invitational at Arbor Hills Golf Club, tee off will be at 9 a.m.
