Led by sophomore Bret Perry’s 71 on the second day of competition, the golf team rallied to tie for sixth place at the 2006 Colgate Invitational.
After a fourth-place finish last year, Cornell entered the tournament with high expectations for the weekend. Freshman Rob Cronheim, playing in his first tournament as a member of the Red, had a strong opening round of 76. Cornell’s best score on Saturday came from junior Chad Bernstein, who shot 75.
“I struck the ball well, but I lost my focus a little bit,” Bernstein said.
Bernstein scored three over par despite beginning the back nine with a three-hole stretch where he was five over par.
[img_assist|nid=18196|title=Take fore|desc=Junior Robbie Fritz (pictured) shot an 80 on Saturday to help the Red rally to a sixth-place finish at the Colgate Invitational.|link=popup|align=left|width=67|height=100]
Juniors Bret Perry and Robbie Fritz and senior Rance Barber each posted a score of 80 for the Red on Saturday. The team’s score of 311 was tied for eitgth among the 17-team field, 15 strokes behind leader Binghamton.
“At the beginning of the week, I thought we should finish in the top-2 or 3,” Perry said.
After the disappointing first day made a top-3 finish improbable, Perry took it upon himself to ensure a respectable finish for the Red. He tied Dan Mcarthy of LeMoyne for the best individual round of the tournament as each player shooting a one-under par-71 yesterday. Perry’s round included back-to-back birdies on the seventh and eighth holes, helping him to a nine-stroke improvement over the previous day.
“I putted very well,” Perry said. “I knew what I had to do better and I did it.”
Fritz and Bernstein each shot 76, while Barber shot 80 to round out the scoring for Cornell. Cronheim could not match his strong first round and shot 81 yesterday. Cornell’s team score of 303 was fifth-best yesterday, and elevated the team to a sxith-place finish in the tournament. Cornell’s total score of 614 was 21 strokes behind Bucknell, which used scores of 145 from both Keita Aoki and Charlie Waddell to win the tournament.
Perry and Bernstein each totaled 151 strokes for the tournament, which was good enough to tie for the 17th-best individual totals.
“I was pleased with how I played, but unpleased with how I scored,” Bernstein said.
Barber was playing in his first away tournament for the Red and only the second tournament of his college career. The senior, in his second year at Cornell after transferring from Tulane, admitted to being rusty after shooting 80 on both days.
“I made some putts down the stretch, but didn’t hit the ball very well,” Barber said. “I need to keep working. I need to get my game back and help this team.”
He claims that he played better at the end of his high school career before he stopped playing frequently during his time at Tulane. As one of only two seniors on the team, Barber will be counted on for his leadership this season.
“We had good improvement between the two days,” Perry said. “As always, we need to improve our consistency to do well this season.”
