McKeesport, PA. - the Penn State Greater Allegheny golf team hosted their inaugural PSUGA Invitational on Thursday at the Youghiogheny Country Club. It was a successful day overall with four teams competing from around the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.
Senior Bert Hinton (Richmond, VA./Benedictine College Prep) led the way for PSUGA shooting a career-low 82 on the par 72 course. He finished the day with the third best score and also hit the longest putt of the day measuring 70 feet.
The career day dropped his season average to 85 giving him the lowest average for PSUGA this season. Today's outing was a big boost for Hinton as he gets set to be one of three qualifiers for the Penn State University Athletic Conference/USCAA national championships on October 6th.
The team's other two qualifiers finished just under the 100 stroke mark with Sean Murphy (Churchill, PA./Woodland Hills HS) scoring a 96 and Justin Wortman (Ashburn, VA./Briar Woods HS) adding a 97 on the day. Both of them enter the national championships with averages sitting just under 90 and look to get back on track for the event.
Alex Myers (Oswego, NY./Oswego HS) rounded out the men's side of the competition with a career day shooting a 120. Myers has continued to improve each time out taking his score from a 129 at the start of the season to a 120 today.
On The Women's side sophomore Taylor Coccia (Elizabeth, PA./Elizabeth Forward HS) finished her season on a high note shooting an 108 and finishing as the top female competitor at the event. After a couple rough outings to start the year Coccia was able to turn things around and shoot a season-best in her final meet of the year.
Angie Nylander (Elizabeth, PA./Elizabeth Forward HS) rounded out the day finishing with a 109 to put up her second best mark of the season. Unfortunately, it was not enough to help her qualify for nationals but she heads in to the off-season looking to continue to get better for next season.
It was a gorgeous day for golf at the Youghiogheny Country Club and all four teams competed well making the event a success. The PSUGA golf program will look to continue to grow and keep the event going year-in and year-out.
The PSUGA golf team returns to action when they send their three qualifiers the PSUAC/USCAA national championships at University Park on October 6th, 7th, and 8th.
