Trojans Surge to Team Title at Players Club Invitational
YORKTOWN, Ind. – Taylor used its best round since the spring of 2022 to break open a tightly contested top of the leaderboard and cruised to a team title at the season-opening Players Club Invitational.
The Trojans finished the opening 36 holes of action on Monday with a narrow five-shot lead over Northwestern Ohio and a six-shot gap over Spring Arbor. After posting scores of 301 and 295 in the first two rounds, TU rallied for a seven-under par score of 281 in Tuesday's solo round to roll to the eventual 26-stroke victory.
The final round score of 281 was Taylor's best team score for a single round since shooting a 280 in the middle round of the 2022 Crossroads League Championships to help secure the program's sixth-straight league crown.
Taylor's final score of 877 was just 13 shots over par for the tournament and gave the Trojans a 26-shot cushion over runner-up UNOH and a 36-shot lead over third-place Spring Arbor.
Matthew Albright highlighted the two-day event for Taylor by tying for medalist honors with a 54-hole score of 219. Albright shot even-par in his first and third rounds, marking the best single-round scores of his collegiate career.
Just back of Albright on the leaderboard was Kyle Kasitz, who used a personal-best score of six-under 66 on the final 18 holes to climb one shot off the lead and in third place overall. Kasitz improved throughout after opening with scores of 79 and 75 in Monday's action.
Also tallying a third-place finish with a final mark of 220 was Tanner Conklin, as Taylor claimed three of the top-five scores. Conklin rallied from an opening-round score of 80 to shoot a 68 in the second round and a 72 in the final round.
Will Schuitema was the fourth Trojan inside the top-10, carding scores of 76, 77 and 71 to end at 224 and just five strokes off the pace of Albright.
Taylor ended the tournament with five players inside the top-15, with Ben Oakley posting successive scores of 79, 75 and 76 to end in a tie for 14th.
RV Taylor will return to the links on September 16 and 17 for the Keiser Shootout in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.