Soeth gets share of fourth as Temple finishes tied for 12th at Firestone Invitational

   Sam Soeth always seemed to be playing his best golf around this time of year.

   The Temple junior never faltered in the Central League Championship, qualifying for the District One Championship every fall of his four years at Marple Newtown. He could never get past that point until his senior year when he capped his career by finishing tied for fifth in the 2013 PIAA Class AAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Resort.

   Soeth got it going in the first two rounds of the Firestone Invitational Monday with rounds of even-par 72 and a sizzling 4-under 68 on Firestone Country Club’s North Course, not quite as famous as the South you’ve seen on TV as home to various PGA Tour events, but a demanding test nonetheless.

Soeth finished up with a 3-over 75 Tuesday over the 7,125-yard, par-72 North Course layout to land in a six-way tie for fourth in the individual standings at 1-under 215.

   It’s been a little frustrating for Brian Quinn’s Owls on the team front as they have been unable to recapture magic that helped them win the team crown at the Cornell Invitational earlier this season. They have played in tougher fields since then, but the Owls settled for a tie for 12^th in the 16-team field at Firestone, finishing with a 32-over-par 896 total. Temple, with rounds of 301, 295 and 300, shared 12^th place with William & Mary.

   Trey Wren, a junior from Suffolk, Va. and probably Temple’s most consistent player, finished 21^st at 220. He opened with a 2-under 70 and added a pair  of 3-over 75s.

   Quinn has been sprinkling in two freshmen and they didn’t play badly at Firestone. Liam McGrath, an Academy of the New Church product, finished tied for 45^th, sandwiching a 1-under 71 in the middle round with rounds of 78 and 77. Dawson Anders, a Souderton product who captured the Golf Association of  Philadelphia Junior Boys’ crown this summer, had a  final-round 73 after a pair of 81s Monday to finish 79^th at 235.

   John Barone, a redshirt junior from Dunmore, finished tied for 86^th with rounds of 82, 83 and 80  for a 235 total.

   Redshirt sophomore Erik Reisner, a two-time Central League champion at Harriton, competed as an individual and made his case for being included among the five for the Owls, finishing tied for 38^th at 225. He opened with a 73 and added a pair of 76s.

   Illinois State opened up a five-shot lead over host Akron with a pair of 6-under 282s Monday and held on for a one-shot victory over hard-charging Cincinnati for the team title. The Redbirds had a final round of 7-over 295 to finish at 5-under 859. The Bearcats had a final round of 1-under 287 to finish a shot behind Illinois State at 4-under 860.

   Akron had a final-round 306 to finish third at 11-over 875. David Trainor, in his seventh season as the head coach of the Zips, is a Berwyn native whose mother is my first cousin. Had to get that in there. South Carolina-Aiken was another eight shots behind Akron in fourth at 883 after a final-round 299 and Dayton, with a solid final round of 1-over 289, finished fifth at 884.

   The Redbirds had three players in the top four in the individual standings, led by Trent Wallace, a junior from Joliet, Ill. who finished alone in third at 2-under 214. Wallace was particularly strong in Monday’s double-round with a 1-under 71 and a 4-under 68 before finishing up with a 75.

   Zach Burry, a senior from Quincy, Mass., and Andrew O’Brien, a freshman from Clive, Iowa were among the group of six players tied for fourth at 1-under 214. A steady Burry sandwiched a 1-under 71 in the middle round with a pair of even-par 72s. O’Brien started strong with a 4-under 68 and added rounds of 75 and 72.

   Also for Illinois State, David Perkins, a sophomore from East Peoria, Ill., finished tied for 10^th with an even-par 216, highlighted by a 3-under 69 in the middle round, and junior David Rauer, who finished tied for 38^th at 225 after a final-round 76.

   The individual title, for the second straight year, went to Cincinnati’s Austin Squires, a junior from Union, Ky. The reigning American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, had a blistering 7-under 65 in Monday’s second round and closed with an even-par 72 to finish two shots ahead of Akron’s Elliott Grayson, a junior from Shelby, N.C.

   Grayson matched Squires’ start Monday with rounds of 71 and 65, but a final round of 2-over 74 left him at 6-under 210.

   Joining Illinois State’s Burry and O’Brien and Temple’s Soeth in the group at 1-under 215 were Davidson’s Jack Lang, a junior from Lexington, Mass., South Carolina-Aiken’s Johnson Holiday, a redshirt senior from Galivants Ferry, S.C. and Ohio University’s Zach Crawford, a freshman from Vandalia, Ohio. Lang and Holiday each finished up with a 2-under 70 and Crawford, who opened with a 5-under 67, finished up with a 3-over 75.