It did not take long for senior David Erickson to realize that he was in the zone.

After dropping his approach shot within two feet of the pin and tapping in for birdie on the first hole of the final round of the Georgetown Hoya Invitational, Erickson cruised to a three-under-par 69, tying him for the competition’s lowest round of the day.

The Georgetown men’s golf team, however, struggled in their final event of the fall, finishing tied for 10th place out of 12 teams with a 27-over-par 603. Eastern Michigan shot a two-over-par 578 to win the Oct. 22-23 tournament, held by Georgetown at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Va.

Head Coach Tommy Hunter said it was a disappointing finish to a disappointing fall season.

“We just didn’t play well,” Hunter said. “We haven’t played well all fall.”

Georgetown stood in 11th place after shooting an 18-over-par 306 in the first round. Although the Hoyas had to deal with wet conditions throughout the first day of the tournament, “we’re not going to make any excuses about the conditions,” Hunter said, adding that there was very little wind to cope with.

The Hoyas recovered to shoot a nine-over-par 297 in the final round, a nine-stroke improvement from their first-round score.

“The difference on the second day showed that this team has heart, and I was proud of them,” Hunter said.

The Hoyas were led by Erickson, whose one-under-par 143 (74-69) earned him a tie for fifth place individually. Two other Georgetown golfers placed in the top 50, as freshman Tim Hager tied for 33rd with a seven-over-par 151 (74-77) and senior Matt Myers tied for 42nd with a nine-over-par 153 (78-75).

Erickson’s fifth-place finish was the best for a Georgetown golfer this fall.

“I pretty much played as well as I could have on the second day,” Erickson said. “Sometimes all you need is a few putts to drop, and I putted better than I had all season in the final round.”

Erickson’s performance at the Hoya Invitational was one of the few bright spots in a mostly frustrating fall season. The Hoyas finished among the bottom four teams in all five of their tournaments this fall.

“We’ve just not been making the key shots at the key moments, so our scores have been higher than expected,” Hunter said.

Erickson said that the team’s schedule, which included five tournaments in seven weeks, played a role in their performance.

“Momentum carries over from week to week,” he said. “It can be wonderful if you’re winning, but it was tough for us to get out of our slump.”

During the offseason, the Hoyas will do strength and conditioning training and work on chipping and putting at their practice facility in Yates Field House. They will also practice their driving in preparation for the spring season.

“There’s going to be more emphasis on putting the ball on the fairway in the spring,” Erickson said.

Despite the team’s struggles, both Erickson and Hunter said they are optimistic regarding the spring season.

“We learned a lot this fall,” Erickson said. “The younger players got more tournament experience, and that will reflect in the spring. We are certainly going to play better.”

“We now know what our weaknesses are,” Hunter said, “and we’re looking forward to improving in the spring.”