A tremendous second-day charge brought the golf team almost far enough this past weekend for a win at the Cornell Invitational. Almost.
The Cornell “A” team scored a final-day 307 for a fifth-place finish and total score of 617, only 15 strokes behind first-place Binghamton.
“I was kind of disappointed,” said junior captain Kevin Scelfo. “We could have done better. It’s always nicer to play decently at home, but we could have finished better.”
Scelfo finished the tournament tied for ninth with a two-day total of 151. Though he was the Red’s top finisher, Scelfo was disappointed in his second day 78.
“I kind of screwed up at the end,” he said. “That pissed me off.”
Despite Scelfo’s struggles Sunday, classmate Justin Howe and freshman Loren Berkley both posted nine-point improvements from Saturday’s round. Howe shot a 74 Sunday, while Berkley shot a 75 to keep the Red in contention throughout the round.
“Everybody played great one day,” said Scelfo.
Chris Rogalski tied Scelfo for the best Red round on Saturday with a 73 in windy conditions. Rogalski continued his strong play Sunday, shooting an 80 to finish 12th overall.
Cornell’s “B” team was led by Andrew Turker, who shot a 77 yesterday to finish in a tie for 27th with Howe. Greg Peterson’s two-day total of 159 tied him with Berkley for 40th overall. The Cornell “B” team finished in a 15th-place tie with Colgate with 645 strokes.
Despite performing below its expectations, the tournament gave the Red cause for hope for improvement over the next several tournaments.
“We played mediocre and we still could have won,” Scelfo said.
The Red will continue its fall season in two weeks, when it plays at Binghamton the weekend of Oct. 18 and Oct. 19.
Archived article by Owen Bochner