The men’s golf team could not channel its inner Tiger Woods at the Southern Illinois Edwardsville Derek Dolenc Classic on Tuesday, finishing last out of 17 teams with a team stroke total of 936 in three rounds, good for +84 overall.

Freshman Pierce Allord led the way for Eastern in the final round yesterday, recording a +3, 74-stroke outing en route to a 62nd ranked finish at the event.

Allord remained just +1 through his first 14 holes of the day, including an even-par front nine, before surrendering two shots in his final four holes to close the round. 

Allord stepped up in a major way from the team’s first tournament last weekend, as the Illinois native lowered his total stroke count by seven and finished second on the team. 

Junior Romeo Perez said it felt great to see his teammates putting in some good rounds.

“It’s really nice seeing them playing well,” Perez said. “We all had some bad rounds this tournament though, but it’s good that everyone is capable of having good rounds. That’s how we’ll be more competitive.”

It was Perez who led Eastern overall, with a 226-stroke total and a T-57th finish. 

Perez posted his worst round of the tournament in the final round, double bogeying two of his final four holes, but the Frenchman still managed to clock in at 77 strokes.

A few problematic holes killed Eastern overall, as the Panthers finished 31 strokes back of 16th place, yet they finished tied for 14th in pars made overall.

Senior Charlie Adare was not averse to those pitfalls, as he finished the day on a nine-stroke 15th hole, despite beginning the day with a birdie on the par 4 16th.

Adare bounced around over the three rounds, going +10 and +11 in his first and third rounds, respectively, yet posting a 74-stroke second round, tied for the team low.

Sophomore Sebastian Olrog had similar consistency issues in the event, opening the tournament on a 76-stroke first round only to fumble into an 87 and an 83 in his last two rounds, respectively.

The par 4 second hole created problems for Olrog all tournament long, as he went +6 in his three appearances on the front nine killer.

Freshman Nic Nguyen’s first tournament showing of the year went unfavorably, as Nguyen failed to post an under-80 round over the two days.

On Tuesday, it was a nine-stroke hole-out on the par 4 first hole that set back Nguyen from the start.

Nguyen rallied, though, birdying both the fifth and ninth holes on the front nine to get to +8 before dropping five strokes in his final six holes.

In the end, Perez said the takeaway from the tournament was simple: getting back home and working on the craft.

“We need to keep practicing,” Perez said. “We all have to practice different things, but we’ll keep working.”

The host of the tournament, SIUE, took the victory overall with an 842-team stroke total and a -10 finish.

Eastern’s next event begins on Oct. 1 at the Drake Zach Johnson Invitational in Des Moines, Iowa.

Oscar Rzodkiewicz can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].