By Curt Bliamptis, Contributing Writer

Despite rainy conditions, the men’s golf team hosted the Bucknell Invitational on Sept. 12-13. The Bison were represented by two teams: one Orange and one Blue. Zachary Melnick ’17 stood out on the Blue team, placing second individually, and the Orange Bison contingency placed third overall. The Blue team finished the weekend at a tie for fourth place.

After two days of play, the Orange Team placed third with a team score of 582, behind only a 574 from Robert Morris and 576 from Lafayette College. Meanwhile, the Blue Team finished with a 586 in a tie for fourth place with Humber College. Melnick led the charge with his second place individual finish and total score of 141 over the course of the two-day event. On the Orange Team, C.J. Zachary ’18 shot a 142, which placed him in third place individually.

“I think that we’re off to a good start, but we’re ready for improvement,” Melnick said.

After the first round the Orange Team was in third place with a 290 total score, and the Blue Team had a 293 score which left them caught in a tie for fourth with Humber College. Melnick shot a 69 for Blue, and Zachary led Orange with a 71.

In the second round, both Orange and Blue held their positions. Orange shot a 292 and Blue shot 293 once again.

The Bison’s young guns particularly shined this weekend, with top 15 performances from Connor O’Brien ’19, JP Raftery ’19, and Daniel Levin ’18. Raftery and O’Brien were on the Orange Team and Levin was on the Blue Team.

“We’ve got a lot of potential heading into the season,” O’Brien said.

Head Coach Michael Binney agreed with O’Brien’s positive outlook on the weekend.

“We can use this result to bounce forward. We’re pleased with our individual results,” Binney said.

Next up the team will go to Ithaca, N.Y. for the Cornell Invitational on Sept. 19-20.