Men’s Team by Team Notes
Bryant
- The Bulldogs begin the 2011-12 season under new head coach Charlie Blanchard. He is just the second coach in Bryant Golf’s 48-year history. So far this fall the Bulldogs have competed in three tournaments, highlighted by an 8th place finish at the Blue Devil Invitational.
-Senior Spencer Sweitzer (Luneburg, MA) continues to be a consistent contributor on the team, appearing in all three tournaments and leading the team twice while averaging a score of 75.5 per round.
-The Bulldogs welcome many new faces for the season including walk on Brendan Allen (Chelmsford, MA/Chelmsford), rookie Connor McGovern (South Darien, CT/Fairfield Prep) as well as the collegiate debuts of Samuel Russell (Southborough, MA/St. John’s) and Zach Garbacik (Hadley, MA/South Hadley).
Central Connecticut
-The Blue Devils have a stroke average of 76.5 or below through the first three events of the season.
- Kevin Josephson (Berlin, CT/Rhode Island) leads the way at 72.3, including a pair of top-10 finishes on the season.
- Freshman Monte Mullen’s (Manchester, CT/Farmington) stroke average of 75.8 is the third best on the team, and he has one top -10 finish.
-Sophomore Daniel Morgan (Mullumbimby, Australia/Mullumbimby) won a playoff to claim medalist honors at the CCSU Fall Invite. He is the second-straight Blue Devil to win the championship, with Josephson being the last.
-Coach Kevin Giancola won his fourth consecutive Connecticut PGA Championship on Sept. 14.
Fairleigh Dickinson
-The Knights have already showed significant improvement this fall with a fourth out of 16th place finish at the Rutgers Invitation. In 2010 FDU finished 11th in the same tournament.
-They have also participated in the Monmouth Quad where they placed third.
-The Knights were led by sophomore Eduardo Escobar (Manizales, Colombia/San Luis Gonzaga) who notched a third place individual finish. He shot 74 in the opening round and followed up this performance by shooting a 71 for par on day two and a 70 on day three. The sophomore shot a two-over during the Monmouth Quad, helping the Knights to a 292 team score.
-Fellow underclassman Connor Hamilton(Burnham, England) and Thomas Barnes will also look to make an impact this season.
Long Island
-Long Island placed 7th out of 11 teams at the Leo Keenan Invitational.
-Freshman Obe Ayton (Liphook, England) led the Blackbirds during his first collegiate outing.
Monmouth
- Monmouth erased 10 strokes off its first round score during the second round of play at the Rutgers Invitational. The Hawks finished the event with another three strokes trimmed as a team.
- Junior Luke DeSimone (Garnet Valley, PA/Garnet Valely), competing as an individual at the Rutgers Invitational, carded rounds of 79. 81 and 73, to finish in 47th place overall.
- Freshman Brady Goodling (Manheim, PA/Manheim Central) finished in a tie for 12th overall at the Rutgers Invitational with a score of 221, including a second-round two under par 69 in his first career event.
Mount Saint Mary’s
- The men’s golf team shot a program-record round of 287 at the Maryland Invitational in the final round and notched a team-best three round score of 883 in the event on Sept. 13.
- The squad also finished second at the Rehoboth Beach Invitational on Monday. It was the Mount’s best finish since placing second at the ECAC Championships last year.
- Sophomore Devin O’Grady (Lancaster, PA/Manheim Township) finished fourth at the Rehoboth Beach Invitational on Monday after carding a one-over round of 72 and a career-low round of two-under 69 in the final round to place fourth in the event.
- Freshman Ryan Triller (Street, MD/North Harford) made his collegiate debut in the Turning Stone Intercollegiate on Sept. 4-5 and placed 36th in the event.
Robert Morris
- The Robert Morris University men's golf team won the 23rd Annual Leo Keenan Invitational Monday afternoon while setting a pair of scoring records.
- The Colonials' total of 571 at the 36-hole event represents a new tournament record - beating that mark by four strokes - and beats the previous team best score of 590 by 19 strokes.
Sacred Heart
- Sophomore Joshua Salah (Gloucester, MA/Gloucester)earned NEC Golfer of the Month honors as he finished tied for the overall lead at two of the three events played this fall and took home a top-10 finish in the other.
-The team has finished well overall in the three tournaments they have participated in this fall, their most impressive being a third out of 12 place finish at the CCSU Invitational.
St. Francis (NY)
- The St. Francis (NY) men’s golf team opened up the 2011 fall campaign at the Central Connecticut State Invitational with a 12th place finish out of 12 teams that were invited.
- Senior David Smith (Chesapeake, VA / Hickory High School) (75-81) was the top performer for the Terriers finishing 40th overall
- St. Francis (N.Y.) completed play at the Rehoboth Beach Fall Invitational by establishing a new program low with a score of 305 in the second round after opening up with a score of 325 in the first round.
- Smith was the Terriers top performer again as he shot a 155 (78-77, +13)
Saint Francis (PA)
- The Red Flash’s two-day score of 583 at the Navy Fall Classic is the best two-day team score in the history of the men’s golf program.
- Sophomore Jeff Chastel (McMurray, Pa. / Peters Township) posted the team’s best individual finish this fall at the Navy Fall Classic when he tied for fifth with a two-day 142 (72-70), also his best career finish.
- Senior Jeremy Foran (London, Ontario/Fanshawe College) played in three of the four events compiling two top –10 finishes for SFPA.
Wagner
- Senior Steve Nakajima (Delta British Columbia, Canada/Delta Secondary School) led the Seahawks in their first tournament of the fall season, shooting 73-77-74 at the Rutgers Invitational to finish in the top-20.
- Sophomore Jason Hopkins (Menifee, CA/ Paloma Valley) also posted three rounds in the 70’s, with scores of 78-79-79, finishing in a tie for 57th place.
- Wagner will be looking for their underclassmen to step up this season, as the team boasts four sophomores and two freshman, with three juniors and one senior.
Women’s Team by Team Notes
Central Connecticut
- Junior Katie Reid (Orangeville, Ontario/Orangeville) stroke average of 81 leads the Blue Devils through the first two tournaments this fall.
- Carly Ludwig was named the new CCSU women’s golf coach earlier this month.
- Stephanie Bednar’s (Hudson, NY/Hudson) finish at Dartmouth, tied for 6th, is the top finish for CCSU this season.
- The Blue Devils finished in fourth place at the Dartmouth Women’s Invitational on Sept. 17-18.
Fairleigh Dickinson
-The Knights placed 13th in a field of 16 at the Sept. 18th Yale Intercollegiate Tournament.
- They recorded a team score of 980, led by Mariana Juaristi (Irapuato, Guanajuato/Prepa Tec) who finished 14th overall with a score of 231.
- They will return to action Thursday, Sept. 29 at St. Francis (NY)
Long Island
-The Blackbirds competed in the Towson Women’s Invitation Sept. 11-12 but did not finish, freshman Alice Boothroyd (North Yorkshire, England) led LIU, carding a 82-86.
-Long Island also participated in the Yale Fall Invitational on Sept 17-18 placing 11 out of 15 teams.
-Anna Palsson (Stockholm, Sweden/Ostra Real) shot a team-low round of 75 while freshman Brianna Maynard (Auckland, New Zeland/Rosehill College) shot the second lowest, with a 79.
- LIU complied the lowest team score of all participating league schools at the Yale Invite.
Monmouth
- Monmouth participated in the Yale Invitational place 15th of 16 with a score of 997.
-Junior Kelsi Kavanagh (Point Pleasant, NJ/Point Pleasant Boro) inked a 246, highlighted by a final round of 80 to pace the Hawks with her 51st place finish.
-Sophomore Michelle Rosenhouse (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills West) was the next finished, caliming 57th (83-84-82).
-Sophomore Macy Raimo (Albany, NY/Colonie Central), who trimmed 12 shots off her first round score to post a 78 in the second 18 holes, finished with a 256 to claim 67th place.
-MU returns to action Friday, Sept. 30, when they will compete in the three day Nittany Lion Invitaion at the Penn State Golf Course, in State College, PA.
Mount Saint Mary’s
- Senior Sarah Roe (Floral Park, NY/Floral Park Memorial) won the Gettysburg Invitational for the second-straight year after carding a 79 in the event at the Bridges Golf Course on Sept. 19. The senior won the event with a round of 76 last year at Quail Valley Golf Course.
-Freshmen Kelsey Hayward (Seekonk, MA/St. Mary's Academy) and Jen Kim (Blue Bell, PA/Methacton) made their collegiate debut at the Towson Invitational on Sept. 11-12. Freshman Sarah Fuss (Newtown Square, PA/Academy of Notre Dame) made her collegiate debut at the Gettysburg Invitational.
Quinnipiac
-Junior Kayla Ketcheson (St. Andrews, Manitoba) led the Bobcats at the Dartmouth Invitational finishing 45th in the field of 60.
- Coach John O’Connor was impressed with the play of his freshman stating, “Hannah [Russell] is adjusting to college golf and shows great promise. Jenn [Forlenza] missed a few key putts but also showed that her hard work will pay off as she gains more strength and focus," O'Connor said. "Devon Gibney did a wonderful job in a difficult situation playing collegiate golf for the first time. She really showed me why she's such a great athlete working her way around this course. Once she gets an opportunity to practice and get her distances down, she could be a real asset to this team"
Robert Morris
- The Colonials have participated in three tournaments so far this fall. Their best finish coming at the Bucknell Invitational where they placed eighth out of 15 teams.
-At the CSU Invitational senior Elizabeth Wenger (Whitmer, OH/Toledo) posted a new program scoring record firing a three-under par round of 70.
-At the same event the team took 20 strokes off their team score in the second round to finish with a 658 total.
Sacred Heart
- The Pioneers have only played one tournament this fall, finishing 14th at the Yale Invitational.
- Junior Gabriella Riber (Stockholm, Sweden/Danderyds Gymnasium) was the Pioneers top-finisher, tied for 24th overall with a three-round score of 235 (83-73-79).
St. Francis (NY)
-The Terriers competed in the Bucknell Women’s Invitational Sept. 10-11and finished 15th.
-Freshman Danielle Hodge (Rainbow City, AL/Gadsden City) paced New York with a score of 279 (101-85-93).
-Rounding out the scoring for St. Francis was Carla Biggs (Montgomery, NY / Valley Central High School) (281), Rebecca Kerry (Bend OR/Summit) (283) and Lauren Suarez (Staten Island, New York / St. Joseph's by the Sea) (292).
-The Terriers are tentatively scheduled to take on Fairleigh Dickinson on September 29.
Saint Francis (PA)
- Reigning Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year Ann Colligan (Kittanning, PA/Kittanning) has led the way for PA this fall, placing third in the field of 80 at the Bucknell Invitational and first at the Cleveland State Invitational, representing her career tournament victory.
- SFPA carded 17 birdies throughout the tournament, ranking them third of the 15 teams participating.
- The Red Flash played no upperclassman at Bucknell, of the five participants, two were sophomores and three were freshman.
Wagner
-The Seahawks have played in two tournaments so far this fall: The Bucknell Invitational and the Mt. Holyoke Invitational.
-Wagner placed 10th of 15 at Bucknell and 4th of 14 at Mt. Holyoke.
-Ellen Huffman (Lima, OH/Lima Central Catholic) led Wagner to their 4th place finish at Mt. Holyoke as she placed third overall with rounds of 79-73. Her second –day score of 73 was tied for the lowest score of the day.
-Head Coach Christopher Fourman said, “I am very proud of the way our girls hung touch this weekend. The Orchards is a test of nerve with tree lined fairways and elevated greens and the fact the 2003 US Open was played there is a testament to the difficulty of the course. We are striking the ball better than we were at this time last year and with three tournaments left to go I really like the position we are in.”