The temperature in Ithaca has been in the 60s for the last two weeks, but the men’s golf team couldn’t care less. After spending its spring break in balmy Florida, the team members are once again heading below the Mason-Dixon Line for the Towson Invitational. Held at the Great Hope Golf Course in Westover, Md., the invitational is a team-play event. Each of the participating universities will bring five of its best players for two rounds of golf, one tomorrow and one Sunday. Each team’s totals are determined by adding up the scores of all of the individual players.
Cornell will be sending down junior Chris Rogalski, sophomores Justin Howe and Kevn Scelfo, and freshmen Andrew Turker and John Patinella.
“This group is a solid five,” said Red coach Matt Baughan.
Of the eight players who went down to Florida for a week of practice and a scrimmage against Rider University, the five with the best overall performances take to the road for Cornell’s tournaments this spring. Although Cornell lost to Rider 320-326, it made a solid showing and indicated how far it has come in the past two seasons. The Red looks to shake off its close loss to Rider with a great showing this weekend.
The composition of this spring’s team is evidence that the team continues to climb the ladder of success. Two out of the five traveling members are from the first class that Baughan has had a chance to effectively recruit. To add to the talent of freshmen Turker and Patinella, Baughan has sophomore standouts Scelfo and Howe, who posted team-high identical scores in Cornell’s last official competition, the Binghamton Invitational. To top it off, these four young players will have Rogalski’s veteran leadership to help them through the season.
At the Towson Invitational, the men’s golf team will be playing on championship-level greens. The course features plenty of water hazards and natural wildlife and spring showers are predicted for tomorrow and Sunday. This means that the team will have to focus on accurate drives and dead-on approach shots to win the invitational.
Despite the long trip south and the less-than-perfect conditions, the men’s golf team will be aiming for low scores in an attempt to set the tone for a successful run at the Ivy League championships this year.
Archived article by S.W. Falk