AURORA, Ill. – Freshman Lance Decker placed ninth in his first collegiate event to lead the Trine University men's golf team to a fifth-place finish at the Aurora Double Gun Classic on Tuesday afternoon. The tournament consisted of 36 holes, all played today at Aurora Country Club.
 
Aurora took home the team title with a team score of 573 strokes, good for three under par. Wisconsin-Stout was second, Hope claimed third and St. Norbert was fourth. Aurora's Caleb Negley took medalist honors scoring five under par and making three eagles on the day.
 
Decker led the way for Trine in ninth place, Asher Caldwell was 20^th, Carter Schnipke was 28^th, and Jake Bilby placed 32^nd. Jack Besner was Trine's fifth man, also placing 32^nd. Garrett James played as an individual and placed 20^th.
 
Decker carded a 75 in round one, he birdied the first hole of his collegiate career, besting the 218-yard par three seventeenth. He followed that with birdies on two and seven and ended the round with four consecutive pars. He started round two on seventeen as well, making par the second time around, he made par on nine of the next ten holes before closing out with three birdies on his last seven holes.
 
Caldwell led the field for most of the first round thanks to a birdie on his first hole followed by an eagle on his fifth, the eagle came on hole two, a 536-yard par five. He went to four under following another birdie on the 355 yard par four eighth. He closed round one at even par. He made nine pars and another birdie in round two and finished at seven above par.
 
Schnipke notched four birdies in round one for a 74 before finishing his day with 11 pars in round two for a 79.
 
Jake Bilby also had four birdies in round one, added three more in round two and finished with 154 strokes.
 
James made eagle on the 478-yard par five eighteenth in round two to highlight his day.
 
Trine hosts the Ken Venturi Invitational next Tuesday at Zollner Golf Course.