SIUC’s men’s golf team ended its season Tuesday, struggling its way to a 16th place finish at the United Sports Technologies Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas. The squad posted a three-round score of 948.

Greg Goodwin, who finished the competition tied for 30th place, said the team’s performance at the Golf Club at Fossil Creek was typical of its play throughout the fall.

It wasn’t our best effort, he said. I can’t describe it really. We all tried hard, just things weren’t clicking, as usual. It just went along with the rest of the season. Nobody could get it going.

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Despite the squad’s last-place finish, only a few rough holes prevented several SIUC golfers from posting better total scores.

A tough third round kept Goodwin out of contention for a higher overall finish.

I went into the third round tied for 15th or 16th, but I blew it in the third round, he said.

Goodwin said strong hitting helped him score in the 70s, but improvement in his short game could have decreased his scores even more.

My putting was terrible, Goodwin said. I hit the ball better than I had all year, but I didn’t make any putts.

Men’s golf coach Gene Shaneyfelt said Goodwin’s hitting percentage for the tournament ranked among those of golfers on the tour circuit.

He hit 70 percent of the greens, he said. That’s tour caliber. That’s very good.

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Teammate Todd Eaker ran into problems in the second round, where he shot six over par on the sixth hole.

I just made a bad decision on the course and I made a 10, he said. I was disappointed with how I played that shot. That could have jumped me 20 shots right there.

Eaker went on to shoot a 71 in the third round, for a combined three-round total of 229.

Shaneyfelt said Eaker had a good tournament, with the exception of his performance in the second round.

He didn’t want to take a bogey, he said. That just comes from being young. But one under par for a freshman, I can’t ask for more than that.

Shaneyfelt said his squad’s finish does not destroy his optimism for the spring season.

The sun’s still going to rise tomorrow, he said.