The Yellowjackets worked hard this past weekend to defend their Liberty League title in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., but they weren’t able to match the prowess of their competitors. They put up a pair of 301s to give them a score of 602 strokes on the weekend, which ranked them third overall in the tournament. Skidmore College put up some impressive numbers chasing away the rest of the field with a 10 stroke lead over second place finisher St. Lawrence University, who finished at 596.
Senior Steven Goodridge put on a strong performance finishing the first round with 71 stokes. He improved on his one-stroke-under finish from round one with a four-stroke-under finish in the final round. His five-under outing ranked three strokes behind the leader from Skidmore.
Despite the runner-up finish, Goodridge and the other top five finishers of the tournament were named to First-Team All Liberty League selection, an honor that has come his way every year he has participated in the tournament.
Junior John Pecor finished 10 strokes behind Goodridge. Pecor ended the first round strong at one over par, with a 73. He lost some traction, though, in the second round, carding a 76, which put him at five strokes over par in the tournament. Freshman Kevin Gay got his first shot at official tournament play this weekend. The young freshman shot a high 79 in his first outing, but was able to tone it down in the second with a respectable 77.
“Kevin is adjusting fairly well to college golf, and I believe he is only going to get better,” head coach Dan Wesley said. “He is an aggressive player by nature, and I admire that in most situations.”
Sophomore Brandon Isobe completed his first round with a score of 78. He fell off his mark a little in the second round, though, with an 80-stroke finish.
Senior Matt Cairo had a difficult time mastering the course. He finished the first round with an 86 and shot an 85 in the second.
The Yellowjackets defended their Liberty League title well. However, this tournament and the few before it have indicated that the team isn’t living up to the level of talent it showed a year ago.
“I was happy with our team score considering we shot a pair of 301s,” Wesley said, “but I’m still expecting more balance throughout the lineup.”
A part of that balance is partially reflected by the team’s big success at the beginning of the 2006 fall season, in which the Yellowjackets were crowned Liberty League champions and were top three finishers in four of their five tournaments.
The team still has the same group of players it did a year ago, but their performance on the course hasn’t been sharp. Hopefully the team will be able to troubleshoot the problem before the first half of the season comes to an end in two weeks.
Serafini is a member of the class of 2008.
