The Red concluded its slate of regular-season tournaments this past weekend when it finished in last place out of 13 teams at the Rutherford Intercollegiate Tournament hosted by Penn State.
Junior Jack Casler led Cornell for the third consecutive tournament, shooting a cumulative seven over par, which placed him 28th individually out of 78. Casler’s best round of the tournament, which was also the best round any Cornell golfer scored over the weekend, was his 72 on Sunday, in which he shot two under par on the back nine.
The Red’s next-best finisher was senior Tianyi Cen, who shot a combined 229, leaving him tied for 59th. The final three golfers for Cornell were junior Mike May who finished 67th, freshman Noah Schwartz who ended the weekend at 73rd and sophomore Charlie Dubiel who shot a 240 over the three days, placing him 76th.
Cornell’s final tally over the weekend left them at 65 over par, 22 strokes behind 12th-place Georgetown. The host Penn State won the Rutherford Intercollegiate Tournament with a cumulative score of three over par, just two strokes ahead of second-place Eastern Michigan.
“I think that we all learned what we need to focus in on moving forward,” Casler said. “After talking with the team after the Princeton Invitational last weekend and the Rutherford Tournament this weekend, we realized what we didn’t do well, and we are going to try to use that information to help us practice more effectively this week.”
The Nittany Lions won their home tournament for the fifth consecutive season. No other Ivy League teams participated in the Rutherford Intercollegiate.
The Red will conclude its season next weekend at the Ivy League Championships at Hidden Creek Golf Club in Egg Harbor, New Jersey.
“We’re all very excited for next weekend,” Casler said. “I have never been to the Ivy League Championship and I can’t wait to play. There are some solid teams we’ll be going up against, but we know that we’re just as good. Throughout the year, our team has shown how well we can really play and it is just a matter of getting all of the right pieces to fall into place. If we’re patient and confident, we’re going to have a really strong weekend.”
Last season, the Red finished in fourth place in the league championships, which were held on the Old Course at Stonewall in Elverson, Pennsylvania.
“When it comes down to it, anyone can win on any given day,” Dubiel said. “That phrase has been a big motivator for me all season, and it will definitely hold true this weekend. All that I am focused on now is putting in some gritty work this week and hitting that first tee shot on Friday morning. After that, I can only control my process and make sure I’m 100% there mentally on every shot.”
Yale won by a large margin last year and is heavily favored going into the 2019 tournament. However, the Red finished just two strokes behind second-place Dartmouth last season. Last year marked the first time in program history that the Red had finished in the top half of the Ivy League Championships in three consecutive seasons.