Grand Valley State men’s golf returned to action this week and competed in the Midwest Regional No. 2 at Fox Run Golf Club in Eureka, Missouri. At the end of the two-day event, the Lakers finished in third place out of 26 teams.

GVSU opened the tournament with a 299 first-round score of 299 and 304 second round score, finishing the event with a total score of 603.

Missouri-St. Louis finished in second place with a total score of 580, while Ferris State finished in first with a final score of 577.

Domenic Mancinelli led the Lakers by finishing eighth overall, carding a 75-74-149.

Even though he finished eighth out of 129 golfers, Mancinelli was not content with his play during the tournament.

“I just didn’t hit very well,” Mancinelli said. “And once I did start hitting the ball well, I didn’t manage my game enough to score well. So I’ll take this week as a learning experience, because I started hitting better toward the end of the two days and it’s something I can build off of going into next week.”

Something that has bothered the squad the entire season is always finishing within the top four teams, but not once finishing in first place.

Mancinelli believes it will just take one good round and some confidence to get out of the slump the team is in.

The Lakers’ Bryce Messner finished 17^th overall with a 71-80-151. Mitchell White finished 24^th overall with a 78-74-152. Rounding out the Lakers were Alex Scott and Alex Nannetti, with final scores of 153 and 159, respectively.

Sophomore Mitchell White was disappointed with his performance, too.

“Overall I would say I had a C-minus performance,” White said. “I definitely wouldn’t say it went well, but there were also some bright spots as stuff I’ve been working on has shown. We realize we need to work harder and practice harder, and this placing will really fuel us to get better.”

It’s not only the players that are hard on themselves. Even with GVSU finishing in third place, coach Gary Bissell isn’t happy with his team’s performance.

“Some of our better players haven’t really played to their potential, and that’s just kind of the way it goes sometimes,” Bissell said. “Golf is a game of peaks and valleys and it’s a streaky sport. No one wins all the time.”

The team isn’t contending at the moment, Bissell said, but they’re not quite playing themselves out of anything either.

“We’re not really at our best right now, but if I had to choose between playing well in the spring or playing well in the fall, I would choose the spring every time. So it’s nothing really to panic about,” he said.

The Lakers return to action for the Motor City Invitational Oct. 16-17 in Dearborn, Michigan at the TPC Michigan golf club.