September 16, 2008

Golf Team Improves Over Two-Day Navy Invite

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The golf team traveled to Annapolis, Md. over the weekend to compete in their first competition of the season, the Navy Fall Invitational. The Red finished the two-day tournament with a team score of 296, good for 6th place in a field of 17 schools from across the country. George Washington University cruised to 1st place with a score of 572, nine strokes better than 2nd place finisher Delaware.
Although the Red did not perform up to their expectations, they made improvements on day two, lowering their collective score four strokes and moving four spots up the leader board. Sophomore Dan Bosse led the Red with a two-day total score of 142, which left him tied for fourth among the 91 golfers competing in the tournament. Classmate Matt Jaye finished two strokes behind Bosse, carding a 144, good for eight place overall. [img_assist|nid=31740|title=Following through|desc=Sophomore Matt Jaye swings for the fairway during this weekend’s Navy Fall Invitational. Jaye shot a 4-over-par 144 to finish in eighth place overall in a 91-man field.|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]
Junior Rob Cronheim, who led the Red in scoring last season, played below his often-high standards, finishing the tournament with a score of 152. After a summer in which Cronheim made it through one round of qualifying for the United States Open and placed 9th in the New Jersey Open. Cronheim put some the blame for the disappointing outing of his junior season with the Red on his transition back to school.
“Being at school, you have to learn to manage your time more efficiently,” Cronheim said. “You don’t have all day to do what you want, so when you actually do have time to practice you have to take advantage of it.”
Although the season is still young, Cronheim and his teammates are not looking to make excuses for performances they believe to be below their ability.
“We know that if we play well we will give ourselves a good shot at winning week in and week out,” Cronheim said. “Even though we made up ground on day two, we still didn’t play up to our expectations as a team.”
With the departure of seniors Robbie Fritz, Austin Lord, Bret Perry and Chad Bernstein, Cronheim has also emerged as the team’s sole upperclassmen on a team dominated by freshmen and sophomores. Cronheim said that this gives him an extra sense of responsibility to lead the younger players and help make their transition to the collegiate level as easy and smooth as possible.
“I feel a sense of responsibility to lead the young guys,” Cronheim said. “I have had a lot of experience so I just try to help the guys feel comfortable.”