The golf team completed its fall season over the weekend with its best single-round score of the year, but it was only good enough for an 11th-place finish at the James Madison Invitational. Despite the Red’s final round of 283, it was unable to move up the tournament standings and finished with a three-round total of 870.
“Our goal is always to do the best we can, and we definitely didn’t. This was just a plain finish to the fall season,” said junior Greg Peterson.
The Red had hoped for a top-5 finish in its last tournament of the fall session, but came away disappointed. Coach Matt Baughan had hoped for solid, consistent performances, as he believed it was imperative that all members of the team play well at the same time. However, he acknowledged that they were facing tough competition.
“Coach always wants to get everyone from one to five to play consistently and break 80,” said freshman Ross Thompson.
The three-day tournament, which was hosted by James Madison, was played at the Lakeview Golf Course in Harrisonburg, Va. The par-71, 6517-yard course played unusually easy, allowing for some very low scores. George Mason won the tournament with a total score of sixteen-under, 836, one shot better than second-place finisher Liberty, and three better than James Madison and Drexel, who tied for third.
Leading the way for the Red was sophomore Robbie Fritz, who shot a three-under 210 over the three rounds of the tournament. Teammates commended Fritz for his consistency, as he was once again able to string together a few solid rounds. He finished in 14th place, after a 10th-place finish at the last tournament.
“Robbie has always been really consistent, even a role model to me,” Thompson said. Sophomore Bret Perry and Peterson both finished in a tie for 41st, with each posting a score of 218. Senior Andy Sliwa and sophomore Chad Bernstein rounded out the Red contingent, carding scores of 224 and 233, respectively.
“This was a very easy course compared to other courses we’ve played,” Peterson said, and as such the Red was left scrambling for birdies instead of grinding out pars. The low scoring did not suit the Red’s usual style of trying to be consistent and making pars.
Despite its low individual scores, the Red was not satisfied with its final standing, but is looking towards the spring season with a renewed optimism.
“Heading into the offseason, everybody really wants to win the Ivy League,” Thompson said.
The Red now has a five-week break, after which it will begin playing weekly basketball games as a means of staying in shape and maintaining group camaraderie throughout the offseason.
“We know where we need to improve, and our goal is still to win the Ivy League,” Peterson said.
Archived article by Jeremy Drucker
Sun Contributor