Rain Washes Out First Round of USCAA Golf Championships
The rain and storms that have been moving across Pennsylvania for the last couple days rained out Monday's opening round of the USCAA National Championships. Play will resume Tuesday at 9 a.m.
McKeesport, PA. – The rain and storms that have swept over Pennsylvania for the past two days have forced the United States Collegiate Athletic Association and the Penn State University Athletic Conference to cancel Monday’s first-round of their championship event. The tournament will move on as scheduled on Tuesday with one round being played at the PSU Blue Course.
The Penn State Greater Allegheny Golf team sent three participants to the event for the first time since the 2011 season. Senior Bert Hinton (Richmond, VA./Benedictine College Prep) and freshmen Justin Wortman (Ashburn, VA./Briar Woods HS) and Sean Murphy (Churchill, Pa./Woodland Hills HS) are each representing PSUGA finishing the season with averages under 100.
Hinton leads the group finishing with a team-low season average of 85. One of PSUGA’s most consistent golfers this season, Hinton consistently scored in the mid 80’s in the five tournaments and finished above an 85 only two times this season. His best performance came at the PSUGA Invitational where he shot a career-low 82 and finished third overall. He also took home the award for the longest putt that day sinking a 70-foot putt for par.
Wortman and Murphy both have come out of the gate strong in their freshmen seasons averaging 89 and 90.8 respectively. Wortman got his season started with a bang shooting a team-best 81 at the PSUAC White Course Invitational to open up the year. He was able to keep up the success all season long, shooting in the mid 80’s in all but two events.
Murphy was also off to a hot start out of the gate coming right behind Wortman shooting an 82 to open the year. He shot upper 80’s to low 90’s the rest of the way and earned his right to be the third qualifier for PSUGA finishing the year with a 96 at the PSUGA Invitational to bring his season average to 90.8.
With round one canceled, the teams will get back to work on Tuesday where they will play the Blue Course located at University Park. The teams will play all 18-holes to determine the USCAA champion and set the stage for All-American awards.
Tuesday’s round will start with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. and will feature all 18 holes of the PSU Blue Course.