Winter Haven, Fla. – Prior to Sunday's opening round of the Veterans Intercollegiate at the Orange County National Crooked Cat Course, Stetson redshirt junior
Ryan Peters' career golf highlights included earning a spot on the junior national team for his native Trinidad & Tobago and serving as a body double for a young Tiger Woods in a documentary produced by the Golf Channel.
His bogey-free three-under par 69 on Sunday set a new high-water mark in his golf career and has him just two shots off the lead going into Monday's second round. The 69 was the first under par round of Peters' life.
"I am just so proud of Ryan because I know how hard he has worked to put himself in position to be successful on the golf course," Hatters' head coach
Danny Forshey said. "There is no doubt that he has the ability to play this game at a high level, and he has the work ethic to be successful, he just needed a boost of confidence to know that he is capable of playing this way all the time."
After Peters dropped a par putt on the final hole to complete his round one of his playing partners, Jack Phelan from Holy Cross, said Peters had an almost flawless round.
"He had to scramble on a couple of holes to get up and down, but he made it look easy all day," Phelan said.
Peters wasn't the only Hatter to have enjoyed success on the first day of spring play. Redshirt freshman
Truman Keppy, who got off to a bad start with three consecutive bogeys to start the day, turned things around to finish the round with a two-under par 70. He is tied for sixth place in the field of 50 collegiate players and five members of the Veterans Golf Association.
"Truman battled back after to getting off to such a bad start," Forshey said. "He was back to even by the time he made the turn and could have easily been four or five under on the back nine."
As a team, the Hatters sit just one shot behind Bucknell for the team lead after a total score of five over par 293. Siena College also posted an opening round 293 to tie with Stetson for second.
The highlights for the Hatters weren't limited to Peters and Keppy. Redshirt junior
Bradley Goldstein made the first big splash of the day when just missed holing out for an Albatross on the par five fourth hole, settling for a tap-in Eagle.
Things didn't go as well for Goldstein during the middle part of the round – he had three bogeys and two doubles over a seven-hole stretch starting at the par four seventh – but he righted the ship down the stretch with four pars and a birdie on 17 to finish with a four-over par 76.
Freshman
Ian Ball and redshirt freshman
Matthew Cooper both posted scores of 78 in the opening round.
"This is just a start for this team," Forshey said. "These guys have talent and they have worked really hard to get ready for this spring season. They are tired of finishing in the bottom half of tournaments and are developing the work habits and attitudes they are going to need if they are going to compete to win this spring.
Monday's second round of play in the three-day tournament is scheduled to start just after 9:30 a.m. The Hatters will go off first along with the Bucknell "B" team and the players from the Veterans Golf Association.
Live scoring will be available throughout the tournament on Golfstat.com.
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS.
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