Defending Champ Golf Heads Back to Delaware

The golf team will set out to defend its title at the Delaware Invitational this weekend. The Red is the reigning champ of the two-day, 36-hole competition, in a field full of teams from all over the East Coast. The players are anxious to get out and compete.
[img_assist|nid=32385|title=The value of experience|desc=Sophomore Matt Jaye (above) is one of only two Red golfers who competed in the 2007 Delaware Invite.|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]
“We’re really excited to play,” said junior Robert Cronheim, who placed third at the rain-shortened Cornell Invitational this past weekend. “It’s a challenging golf course that we’ve had good vibes from. It’s the perfect place to really get our season going.”
Although the Red did finish first at last year’s competition, only two players remain from the team that claimed the prize; Cronheim and sophomore Matt Jaye.
“We’re the defending champs, but we have a completely different team from last year,” Cronheim said. “Matt and I are the only two who competed in last year’s tournament. We both have great insight into the course and we’re looking forward to helping the other guys out.”
“It’d be great to win an event two years in a row,” Cronheim added. “This course is great for us. We’re an extremely young team and winning is something we need to be comfortable with.”
Although he did not travel to Delaware with the team last year, sophomore Dan Bosse shared the sense of accomplishment with his teammates after winning and is looking to continue that success. He has emerged as a top contributor for the Red this year.
“We’re the defending champs,” Bosse said. “We definitely want to repeat, you never want to lose any ground. That being said, the idea of defending our title isn’t really in the front of our minds. You just have to go out and take everything one shot at a time and hopefully there will be a good outcome.”
Despite the bad weather, the Red has been able to get sufficient practice this past weekend. But with the pressure of school, balancing practice and studying does take a toll mentally.
“Prelims are kicking in,” Bosse said. “There’s less time to practice, and it’s mentally draining having to balance everything. But it’s just something you have to deal with.”
“We’re just trying to prepare ourselves,” Cronheim said. “We’re just getting mentally and physically ready to go out and play good golf.”