By Matt Poshedley
The Vikings men’s golf team has wrapped up their fall season.
Their season started at the Turning Stone Tiger Intercollegiate at Kaluhyat Golf Club in Verona, New York.
On their first day of play, the men saw themselves in seventh out of 15 teams.
The second day, they moved up two spots to fifth as Cleveland State shot a final round of 298. This was led by junior Anton Krecic as he tied for 18th with a 228 shot total.
At the Joe Feaganes Marshall Invitational at Guyan Golf and Country Club in Huntington, West Virginia, the golfers only saw one day of action since the second day was rained out.
Anton Krecic kept his hot streak going as he tied for fourth place with a shot total of 138 on 36 holes. This helped lead the Vikings to finish at an even par and place fourth out of 15.
The Raising Cane’s EKU Intercollegiate University Club at Arlington in Richmond, Kentucky was the third event the Vikings would participate in.
Anton Krecic was Cleveland State’s top finisher of the event as he tied for 17th. The Vikings would shoot a 289 in their final round and place eighth out of 16 teams.
The Vikings hosted the next invitational at Barrington Country Club in Aurora, Ohio. After the first day they were in third place, but it truly became interesting after that.
Cleveland State would go on to win the playoff against Oakland University by shooting four pars on the 18th hole to finish in first place.
“Coming from behind at our home tournament to win in a playoff was gutsy. That was big time,” Viking golfer and senior Joey Krecic said.
During the Cleveland State invitational, senior Joey Krecic made eight birdies to shoot 5-under-par 67. It was the low round of the day and tied for the low round of the tournament. Joey Krecic finished in fourth place.
“Having a great sophomore season with two wins and a runner up at conference, my expectations became unattainable and that derailed me in my junior year,” Joey said. “Playing some good golf in those final two events was huge for me.”
After the tournament, Head Coach Steve Weir announced that the tournament’s new name would be the Tom Tontimonia Invitational beginning in 2018.
This is in honor of Cleveland State Associate Athletics Director Tom Tontimonia, who is retiring on Oct. 31 after 38 years at the university.
The final event of the season was the Dayton Flyer Invitational at NCR Country Club in Kettering, Ohio.
The Vikings would finish sixth out of 11 teams, but Anton Krecic posted his third top 10 finish and would be the top finisher in all five events.
The Vikings finished the fall season with a 293.9 scoring average and made 35 birdies as a team, fourth most among the field.
Now with the season over, expect the offseason to be just as busy for the Viking men.
“We will be working out four times a week, including practice indoors three times a week at minimum,” Joey said. “We stay busy and by the time February hits we are hungry to get after it.”
The Vikings spring season is set to open at the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate on Feb. 26-27 in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
“I have great confidence in our team,” Joey said. “It’s a long season and I say it all the time, we win conference championships during the offseason because we outwork everyone else.”
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