Despite a strong final round, the Eastern men’s golf team finished last out of 15 teams in the Eastern Kentucky University Intercollegiate tournament over the weekend.

Eastern finished 69-over-par with a 909 team stroke total on the par 70, 6,623-yard course in Arlington, Kentucky, 21 strokes behind DePaul, which finished 14th, and 71 shots behind Eastern Michigan, the winner of the event.

Eastern progressively improved as the tournament went on, as four of the five golfers for the Panthers recorded fewer total strokes in each of their three rounds.

Junior Romeo Perez said the success within the event came from settling in for the team’s first outing of the year.

“It was our first tournament of the season, and we had a rough start,” Perez said. “But as the tournament went on, we played with less pressure and performed better. We need to stay on track for the upcoming tournament.”

Perez shot a career-low of 70 for the Panthers in the third and final round on Sunday, parring 16 of his 18 holes.

“I played some really good golf my last round,” Perez said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t make enough putts to go lower than this. My shots were more consistent than last year, which helped me keeping a good score.”

Perez said, “The consistency was the key.”

Perez said one of his teammates, freshman Nick Nguyen, was ineligible for the team’s first tournament due to documentation issues with the NCAA.

Barring setback, Perez said he hopes to see “one of our best players” cleared for the next event.

Junior Marcello Verdolin placed second for Eastern and 79th overall after a three-round stroke total of 229 and a final round 73, tying his low round from last season.

Verdolin, seeded fourth on the team, cruised in the final round with a -4 front nine but struggled on the back, including a triple bogey on the 12th hole.

Verdolin tore apart the fourth hole of the course as he birdied twice in three rounds and eagled in the second round of the event.

The lone senior on the team, Charlie Adare, finished just behind Verdolin with a 230-stroke total and a 74-stroke final round.

Adare started slowly, going +9 combined in his first two holes of each round, but he rebounded throughout, recording six birdies in 54 holes.

Sophomore Sebastian Olrog finished +24 in three rounds with a final round 78.

All three of Olrog’s rounds at the event ended below his 82.58 average stroke total from last season.

Eastern’s fifth seed, freshman Pierce Allord, matched Olrog with a 234 total, finishing tied for 88th.

Eastern’s next tournament takes place Sept. 24 and 25 at the Southern Illinois Edwardsville Derek Dolenc Invitational in Madison, Illinois.

Oscar Rzodkiewicz can be reached at 581-2812 or orrzodkiewicz@eiu.edu