Freshmen Boyles, Basford lead men’s golf in season opening tournament in Michigan

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. – Defiance College men's golf opened their 2023-24 campaign with a Friday-Saturday trip to Bedford Country Club in Battle Creek, Mich. for the Lou Collins Memorial Tournament, hosted by the University of Olivet. While the Yellow Jackets finished 16th of 16 teams, freshmen Sam Boyles and Bretton Basford each compiled solid efforts over the two-day tournament.

Boyles (Navarre, Ohio/Fairless) topped the day one scoring on Friday with a team-best 81 followed by a round of 91 on Saturday to finish at 172 for the tournament. Fellow first-year player Basford (Pennville, Ind./Winchester) shot 93 on the first day before leading the team with an 82 on Saturday to finish with 175 strokes for the weekend. The duo's scores were the lowest rounds by DC men's golf since the 2021-22 campaign.

Senior Brenden Garvin (Vancouver, Wash./Prairie) improved from day one to day two with a 95 on Friday and 91 score on Saturday in his return to the program. Garvin averaged 87.3 per 18 holes during his freshman season in 2020-21. Payton Switzer (Defiance, Ohio/Defiance) carded rounds of 91 and 105 and finished just ahead of senior Will Garlock (Lima, Ohio/LCC) with career-best rounds of 105 and 101.

As a team, the Yellow Jackets compiled a 725 36-hole total, finishing 149 strokes over par. Calvin earned the tournament title with a team score of 592 (16-over) and boasted the individual champion with Matt Turcotte scoring rounds of 77 and 69 to win by two strokes over Ohio Northern's Joey DeSimone.

DC's golfers head back across the Buckeye-Wolverine border on Tuesday for the Lourdes Invitational at the Legacy Golf Club.

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