PHOENIX, Ariz. --- A few late blunders caused Biola Men's Golf to slip from ninth place to 10^th place during the final day of competition at the Arizona Christian Spring Invite at Moon Valley Country Club.
 
The team shot seven-over on the final hole to watch their very close competition with Embry-Riddle for ninth place turn into a bit more of a gap. As a whole the team shot 307 on the final day of competition, which was its worst round of the 54-hole tournament.
 
"We had a real tough finish," said Head Coach Hank Woodrome. "We lost at least 10 shots over the final three holes, which kept us from staying ahead of Embry-Riddle. We just couldn't quite finish it off."
 
Samuel Shih shot the Eagles' best round of the afternoon with a 76 despite getting off to the worst start through the first nine holes. He shot a 43 through nine and then turned it on over the final half of the day by shooting 3-under on the back nine.
 
Without the struggles of the final three holes the rest of Woodrome's team was on track to finish in the low-70s, but some difficult shots and missed putts down the stretch pushed all four of the other golfers to 77s.
 
"We worked hard on our putting last week, but just could not make many putts," said Woodrome. "I think we are really close to having a good tournament. The guys are working hard and I know the results will follow."
 
A promising sign for the Eagles is that Kyle McAbee, a freshman, was the team's leading scorer for the tournament. He finished tied for 38^th and shot just nine shots over par for the week (73-75-77 | 225).
 
All of the Eagles shot between 225 and 229 (+9 - +13) for the tournament, which is a positive sign of consistent play through Woodrome's lineup. There was only one round shot outside of the 70s by any of the five Biola players in the tournament. In 2014-15 all but three members of Woodrome's team averaged in the 80s, so this is a huge improvement.
 
William Langworthy finished tied for 46^th (76-74-77 | 227), while Austin Bishop, Dominic Ariondo and Shih all came into the clubhouse with 229s and tied for 50^th overall.
 
Johnson & Wales (FL) won the tournament by eight strokes over the host institution, ACU. The Wildcats finished with a team score of 11-under (853). Biola's 10^th place finish put them ahead of Benedictine-Mesa, Marymount and Hope International.
 
The Eagles are back on the course on leap day (Feb. 29) for the first day of competition at The Master's College Mustang Invite.