The Weber State University men’s golf team kicked off their 2015 spring season by finishing ninth in the Pizza Hut Pat Hick’s Invitational at Sunbrook Golf Course in St. George, Utah on Tuesday afternoon.

“The first round went pretty well,” said WSU junior Devon Purser. “The last round we all struggled and fell back quite a bit.”

As the first round of the two-day tournament wrapped up on Monday, the Wildcats were in fifth place with a team score of 289. However, on the second day the team had dropped four places to finish ninth with a team score of 304.

Leading the Wildcats were juniors Devon Purser and Colton Dallimore, who both tied for 32nd place with total scores of 147. Purser shot a 72 in the first round and a 75 in the second round while Dallimore shot a 71 and a 76. Junior Lee Shepherd shot a total score of 148 to finish tied for 37th place, while junior Luke Crapo tied for 50th place with a score of 151 and senior Michael Johnson finished tied for 65th place with a total score of 155.

The College of Charleston won the team title at the event, finishing with rounds of 285 and 278 for a 13-under-par finish of 563. Six shots behind the lead school in second place was the host school of the tournament, Southern Utah University, with Utah Valley University rounding out the top three with a total score of 571.

Junior Kenny You of Dixie State University was the top finisher at the meet with rounds of 67 and 69 for an eight-under-par total score of 136. Grahm Schmaltz from Utah State finished one shot behind You with a total score of 137, shooting a 69 in the first round and a 68 in the second.

Purser said that going into the tournament Monday, the team felt they had the opportunity to play well based on their performance during practices.

“We have had great weather this winter so being able to play outside instead of indoors has allowed us to play often,” Purser said. “We play three to four times a week and practice indoors if the weather is bad.”

The next tournament on the schedule for the Wildcats is the Sacramento State Invitational, which will be held at the Valley Hi Country Club in Sacramento, California March 9-10. Looking forward to the tournament, Purser said that the team had a couple things to improve upon.

“For the next tournament we need to work on finishing our rounds better and making a few more putts,” Purser said.