GROVE CITY — Brian Giesler’s final tee shot of the day sailed far off course, crackling through tree limbs.

Giesler, a sophomore on the Grove City College men’s golf and basketball teams, was clinging to a small lead at the Grove City Invitational before the errant drive.

“I was thinking, ‘Oh boy, I messed this up,’” Giesler said.

But the Slippery Rock High graduate had good fortune on his side at Grove City Country Club Sept. 10.

After a few minutes spent foraging through the woods for his ball, he spotted it in a clearing with a wide-open path toward the green.

Giesler ended up with a birdie on that final hole and won the tournament with a 72.

“It was a great feeling to be able to win the tournament,” Giesler said.

Giesler finished two strokes ahead of Matt Fiore of Thiel College.

His teammate, both on the golf team and the basketball team, Mars graduate Christian Locher, finished tied for fifth with a 77.

Giesler had a disappointing freshman season on the golf course for the Wolverines.

He shot a 79 in the Grove City Invitational last season and never finished higher than third in any tournament last fall.

Part of that had to do with adjusting to college life at an academically challenging school like Grove City College.

He also had to balance his responsibility to the basketball team, as well.

“I’ve gotten a little more mature as far as being able to sit down and say, ‘This is what I need to do,’” Giesler said. “Last year, I knew what my potential was, but I never thought of myself as a golfer. I thought of myself as a basketball player who was a golfer, too.

“This year, I was willing to put the time in.”

Giesler admits he didn’t practice his golf game last year as much as he has this season.

He also has a year under his belt, so the unknown is now known.

Giesler still has put in his time on the basketball court, carving out time to work out and work on his shooting.

“Most days, I’m up at 8 a.m. for class, go to golf and then go to the gym to work out or shoot around,” Giesler said. “I play two sports and I still have decent grades. That gives me a sense of accomplishment.”

Locher decided to focus on just basketball as a freshman last year at Grove City.

This year, he decided the time was right to return to the golf course.

“I didn’t want to push it. I wanted to make sure I could handle the academics,” Locher said. “I played a lot of golf in the summer and played well, so that convinced me to come back this year.”

Locher said balancing two sports with course work is easier than he thought.

“The practice schedule is pretty lenient,” he said.

Locher is determined to not only have a good season on the links, but on the basketball court, too.

He played in 17 games with no starts and averaged 2.6 points per contest after a stellar four-year career with the Planets.

“I know what to expect now,” Locher said. “There’s a certain comfort level that wasn’t there last year as a freshman.”