The golf team got off to a weak start this past weekend at the St. Lawrence University Men’s Invitational tournament. Their first round performance of 320 strokes put them at ninth out of a field of 13.
Former UR golf star Dan Wesley was recently named the new head coach of the team after the retirement of Rich Johnson. Wesley was also a member of the golf staff as an assistant coach for a little over a year and a half. Unfortunately, his first match as a coach didn’t go as well as hoped.
Despite their dismal first round, the Yellowjackets were able to shed the rust and shave off several strokes with a second round score of 299, placing them sixth overall out of 16 teams and third among the ten teams from the United States, as three teams from Canada also participated in the tournament.
Junior John Pecor was the team’s big player, carding a 78 in the first and 75 in the second round. His score of 153 on the weekend ranked him 16th in the tournament. Senior Stephen Goodridge had problems in the first round with an 83. He settled down in the second round, taking nine strokes off his previous score to put him at 155 and tied for 22nd in the tournament.
“I kept hitting it in the trees and the trees are like a forest with no escape,” Goodridge said. “I took 15 shots to play the 18th hole over two days – eight the first day and seven the second day – which really disappointed me.”
Senior Matt Cairo showed improvement in the second round as well. After cupping an 80 in the first, he turned in a respectable 75, giving him 155 and allowing him to share 22nd with Goodridge.
Sophomore Brandon Isobe also shot an 80 in his first round, but came over the top in the second round with 76 to rank him just below Goodridge and Cairo in the tournament.
Freshman Ryan Williams kicked off his NCAA career on the wrong foot. He posted an 85 in the first and still had trouble mastering the greens in the second with an 86.
The Yellowjackets’ first round performance at the SLU tournament was terrible compared to last year’s second place finish. However, the team’s rebound in the second round this year vindicated their ability. In fact, their second round stint ranked second out of the 13 teams that participated this past weekend. Hopefully, the team has its house in order before the next tournament at Le Moyne College in one week.
Serafini is a member of the class of 2008.
