AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Rutgers men’s golf team completed the Augusta Haskins Invitational this weekend, where they faced some of the toughest golf competition in the country, facing multiple ranked teams and several top-25 ranked individuals.
“The Haskins” is located in the same city as Augusta National, where The Masters in played each year. For the Scarlet Knights, getting to play in one of the most famous golf cities in the world is an incredible experience.
“It feels great to be in the area but when you get inside into Augusta,” head coach Rob Shutte said. “It really helps you appreciate where you are and continue to play this wonderful game at a high level.
Senior captain Noah Kumar and freshman Bennett Espenshade put together gritty performances, with Kumar finishing in the top-25 and Espenshade finishing in the top-50. Kumar finished with the best score of all Scarlet Knights (215) and was tied for 20th on the leaderboard. Espenshade was five strokes behind Kumar (220) and finished tied for 44th in the individual standings.
“It’s not something you see every day getting to see the number one ranked team or top 20 ranked individuals, so it really elevates the competition,” Espenshade said. “It’s special playing here, and seeing guys on the range that are individually ranked is an opportunity to compete and see how you measure up and see who you can beat.”
Espenshade has continued to add onto strong performances in the latter half of the season, something he’s been working towards all season long.
“I’m seeing the progress come along with the work I’m putting in every day,” Espenshade said. “I’m really excited with a lot of the things I’m seeing, especially in my short game”
Captain Noah Kumar echoed similar sentiments to Espenshade.
“It’s a great sign to see that I’m able to compete with top teams in the country,” said Kumar. “I played well on the par fours and was able to capitalize and make some birdies, and I played aggressive and minimized mistakes, and that’s really what that course is about. I just thought of it as another tournament and did what I needed to do for the team.”
Freshman Argyle Downs had another solid performance (225) finishing tied for 58th overall. Sophomore Derek Gutierrez finished tied for 62nd and Weston Jones rounded out the squad finished in 72nd…
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