A Bison golfer looks to capitalize on the short game. Unfortunately, inclimate weather kept the Orange and the Blue from defending their win streak at home.
Chris McCree
Sports Editor
The men’s and women’s golf teams kicked off their seasons with third and seventh place finishes, respectively. This past weekend, the Colgate Invitational in Hamilton, N.Y. gave the men a team score of 618 or 42-over par, leaving them 20 strokes behind tournament champion, Youngstown State. The women’s team had a tougher time during its host tournament, failing to extend its event winning streak to three straight years.
For the men, Dan Bernard ’13 led the team with a 36-hole score of 153, earning him a top-10 finish in a field of 54 competitors.
“The team performed pretty well,” Bernard said. “It was good for the freshmen to get some tournament experience in the tough conditions over the weekend.”
The Bison started two first-years this weekend, Luke Edelman and Nick Geissler, who finished T-21 and T-36, respectively, in their first collegiate tournaments. Edelman posted scores of 80 and 76 over the two days, while Geissler finished with two rounds of 83 and 80.
“Personally, I was disappointed with my performance on both days and will not take it lightly,” Edelman said. “I plan to work very hard in the coming weeks to ensure better performances in the future. Although I was very upset with my performance, I must say that the entire feel of the tournament was great between our team, our coach and the tournament itself.”
Rounding out the top five for the Bison were Schuyler Stitzer ’14 and Zach Pogust ’15 who finished T-13 and T-18, respectively. At the end of the tournament, all but Youngstown State’s Bill Gaffney were over-par. Gaffney held a seven stroke victory at one under par.
Coming away from the weekend, the Bison can be satisfied that they were able to finish ahead of host team and league rival Colgate, who finished with a 639.
For the women, Bridget Wilcox ’14 led the team with a 54-hole total of 231. Wilcox was the sole player for the Orange and Blue to record three-straight rounds under 80, allowing her to finish in the top 10 at +21.
Coming into the event, the Bison were the two-time defending champions, but could not find the consistency to win this year. At the end of the three rounds, Boston University stood atop the leaderboard after squeezing by both Rutgers and Seton Hall by a stroke. The Orange and Blue were able to finish strong, posting its best round of the tournament on Sept. 9 to move from eighth to seventh in the 15-team field.
“Well the tournament was a little disappointing. We’ve won our home tournament for the past two years, but this year it just didn’t happen for us. None of us played our best, but it’s a building year for us and we know what we need to work on,” Lexi Klein ’15.
The men’s team will return to play today when they host the Bucknell Invitational, while the women will take the week off before heading to Michigan to play in the Wolverine Invitational.