The eighth-ranked Emory golf team opened the spring portion of its schedule on Monday and Tuesday at the Callaway Gardens Collegiate Tournament in Pine Mountain, Ga, finishing seventh in a star studded field of 15.

With poor weather forecasted for Tuesday, most teams played thirty holes on Monday, trying to squeeze in as much play as they could while the favorable conditions lasted.

The Eagles shot a disappointing 309 in the first round and limped to the finish line tallying a 318 in the final round.

“We’ll get better,” Head Coach Mike Phillips said. “We appreciated the effort. The conditions weren’t good for anybody. It was very cold and the course looked like a lake. We tried to take advantage of the weather on Monday by getting 30 holes in, but we struggled.”

The Eagles were led sophomore Ryan Dagerman’s seven over par 151 (75,76), which was good enough for 12th place in the 85 player field.

“You have to give Ryan credit,” Coach Phillips said. “It was very muddy on Tuesday and easy to hit a fat shot, but guarding against it produced a lot of thin shots. He’s a bulldog out there, he was grinding it.”

The Eagles believe that finding consistency is the key to improving throughout their season.

“To just be consistent is a vague goal,” Coach Phillips said. “We have to identify what makes you consistent and what makes you a better player. We have to work on skills that will make us more consistent.”

The team remains upbeat and ready to return to the course to improve upon its poor first showing.

“It wasn’t all that bad,” Coach Phillips said. “We’ll chalk it up as water under the bridge and hopefully be ready for this next tournament.”

The Eagles return to action on March 8 and 9, at the Lonnie Barton Memorial Invitational in Savannah, GA.

— Contact Geoff Gilbert.