By Kevin Carroll – STAFF WRITER

The Hofstra men’s golf team showed no signs of rust as they hit the course for the first time since the fall, opening up spring competition with an impressive fifth-place finish at the Whiting-Turner Towson Invitational this weekend.

The 23-team invitational tournament, held this past Saturday and Sunday at Prospect Bay Country Club in Maryland, hosted a 120-player field comprised of some of the best college golfers in the country.

Hofstra ended up finishing 23 shots off the pace, closing out the tournament with a final tally of +54, good for fifth place behind teams from Robert Morris, Seton Hall, William & Mary, and tourney champion Arkansas, who won the tournament with a final score of +21. The Pride ended the first day of competition with a round score of 314, and improved by six strokes on Sunday, shooting a 308, but was unable to keep up with the leaders and settled for a fifth-place finish.

Brandon Shin, coming off an impressive junior season, led the way for the Pride, earning the top spot on the team with a +9 score. Shin, a senior from California, posted a 76 on Saturday, only five shots over par, and managed to shoot one stroke better on Sunday for a final round +4. Shin finished tied for 11th, Hofstra’s best individual finisher. Not far behind him was David Won, who finished 17th at +11.

Seton Hall’s Lloyd Jefferson Go came out on top of the field, taking the top spot with an impressive score of +1 over two rounds. Even more impressive was that Go actually managed to shoot one shot under par in the second round on Sunday, making him one of only two golfers to finish a round under par in the whole tournament.

The Hofstra men’s golf team returns to action this weekend, heading into the Pennsylvania heartland for the Lafayette College Invitational. The two-round tournament will be held on Sunday and Monday at the Silver Creek Country Club in Hellertown, Pa.