PALM BEACH, Fla. – The South Dakota men's golf team finished up their first event of the season at the Southern Invitational Tuesday. The squad recorded a score of 912 for 11^th place.
 
Tournament: Southern Invitational
Location: The Falls Club
USD Finish: 11^th place (309, 299, 304 – 304)
Top Yote: Senior Tate Arends T40 (77, 71, 77 – 225)
 
The short story: The South Dakota men finished its first tournament in over 11 months. After three rounds, the Yotes shot a total score of 304. Arends led the way for the Yotes on the player leaderboard shooting a 225.
 
TEE OFF

• Arends recorded scores of 77, 71 and 77 for a total score of 225. Arends recorded 11 birdies and one eagle in three rounds of action. He recorded his first round under par in round two with a one under-par score that included one eagle and five birdies.
• Senior Matt Tolan tied for 46^th place in the first event of the season. He carded scores of 79, 76 and 73 for a total score of 228. Tolan bagged five birdies over the three rounds and shot one under-par on the front nine of the third round to finish the final round one over-par.
• Junior Ben Hicks tied for 50^th place with scores of 77, 73 and 81 for a total score of 231. He recorded eight birdies throughout three rounds. On the front nine of the second round he finished even-par to finish the round one over-par.
• Sophomore Ryan Neff completed his first tournament as a member of USD recording scores of 80, 79 and 78 for a total of 237. He placed tied for 61^st after three rounds. Neff bagged four birdies over the two days.
• Freshman Ben Daane competed as an individual for the Yotes recording five birdies over the two days and placing tied for 63^rd. Daane carded scores of 81, 79 and 78 for a total score of 238.

 
COYOTE SCORES

Place	Team/Player	RD 1	RD 2	RD 3	Total
11	South Dakota	309	299	304	912
T40	Tate Arends (2)	77	71	77	225
T46	Matt Tolan (1)	79	76	73	228
T50	Ben Hicks (3)	77	73	81	231
56	Ian Johnston (4)	76	81	76	233
T61	Ryan Neff (5)	80	79	78	237

 
INDIVIDUAL

Place	Player (Team)	RD 1	RD 2	RD 3	Total
T63	Ben Daane (South Dakota)	81	79	78	238

 
QUOTABLE
"Although we didn't finish how we wanted, it was a great experience this week. To finally get back together and compete as a team was great," head coach John Vining said. "The positive from this week is we know exactly what we need to do in preparation for GCU. A little more focus on strategy and dialing the green speeds will be where our attention will be heading into our next event."
 
UP NEXT
South Dakota will travel to Arizona to compete in the GCU Invitational on March 15 and 16.