April 8, 2005

Golf Team Travels to Yale

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After dealing with difficult weather conditions a week ago, the men’s golf team is looking to gain some momentum in its final tournament before the Ivy championships, when it travels to New Haven, Conn. this weekend to compete at the Yale Invitational.

“Last week and this week are previews for the Ivies,” said Cornell senior captain Kevin Scelfo. “This weekend, we’re looking to see how we stack up against other Ivy teams.”

Last weekend in Towson at the Drew Upton Memorial Classic, Cornell and the other 18 teams which competed in the tournament experienced rounds which were cut short by rain and gusty winds. The Red ended the competition in 10th place, with its golfers finishing within seven strokes of each other.

But, the Red’s final placing might be misleading according to Scelfo, since it knocked off Ivy rivals Columbia and Yale — a team it has never beaten before. Considering that this was the team’s first spring tournament, Scelfo said he was proud of how his team did.

“Even though the conditions kind of threw things off, I think we did play pretty well and we beat teams that we have never beat,” Scelfo said.

At Towson, Cornell was paced by freshman Bret Perry, who shot a pair of 77s en route to a total score of 154 — putting him in 33rd place. Scelfo was one shot behind Perry, shooting a 77 and 78 over the competition, while classmate Billy Grover recorded a combined score of 158. Scores were also abnormally high, with only one golfer from the field being able to shoot par.

In its final tournament of the regular season before the Ivy championships, the team should expect much friendlier conditions with clear skies and temperatures expecting to be in the mid-50s.

Scelfo said that in the past couple years with the help of Cornell’s head coach Matt Baughan, the Red has become more competitive and has been working hard to compete with its conference competitors. The results from this hard work have shown, and Scelfo, who said he would be disappointed with anything less than a top-3 finish at the Ivies, hopes he can end his career at Cornell on a high note.

Archived article by Brian Tsao
Sun Assistant Sports Editor