After a long break from tournament play, the golf team returned to action this past weekend at the Towson Classic in Maryland, finishing 18th out of a field of 19 teams.
“The real difficulty for us was that we haven’t played [since October],” said junior Kevin Scelfo. Cornell faced a tough field of East Coast teams at the annual invitational, including upsate rivals Binghamton and Colgate.
“It was the best competition we’ve ever played,” Scelfo said of the field.
The Red opened the three-day tourney with a 313 overall score, placing the team in last place. Yet, as the weekend went on, the golfers began to play more like they did during their successful fall season. On Saturday Cornell shot a 312, and on Sunday the golfers shot a 307.
Senior Chris Rogalski turned in the Red’s best single round of the weekend. He shot a 1-under-par 71 on Sunday, earning the tournament’s third best score of the day. Rogalski’s final round was a marked improvement over his 9-over-par 81 opening round on Friday.
Scelfo had Cornell’s best overall tournament score, a 74-75-77-226, to place 39th out of a field 98 golfers.
Liberty University won the tournament, finishing the weekend with an 867. Towson and Rutgers tied for second-place, with scores of 872.
Alex Brueggemann of Towson had the best individual score, a 5-under-par 211.
Columbia, the only other Ivy League school at the tournament, finished in eighth place. Cornell will compete against the Lions, along with the rest of the Ancient Eight, at the Ivy League Championships in April. Cornell, who finished last in the 2003 tourney, will look to improve on its performance this time around.
“Our main focus for the year is the Ivy championships,” Scelfo said.
Scelfo added that he hopes the team finishes in the top half of the Ivy finals. But first Cornell will play at the Lafayette Invitational on April 9 in Easton, Penn.
Scelfo is hoping for a good showing.
“We have the talent to do really well,” he said. The team will gear up for its final two tournaments with a new round of practices in Ithaca and possibily in Binghamton. The Red will focus on its short game in particular, Scelfo said.
Archived article by Ted Nyman
Sun Staff Writer