Chudacoff takes his first individual title in home invite

After the first round of 18 of last weekend’s Fred B. Kravetz Invitational, freshman Michael Chudacoff sat atop the leader board for the first time in his college career.

“I had no idea what to think,” Chudacoff said. “I had never been in that position before, and it was a little uncomfortable.”

But being in new territory seemed to suit the freshman. The following day, Chudacoff opened the second round with six-straight pars en route to a three-over 75 through 18 holes — good enough to take first place individually and lead the UR golf team to a fourth-place finish.

“I didn’t have to say much to [Chudacoff after the first day] other than to enjoy the moment and to embrace the challenge — and he did,” head coach Dan Wesley said. “It was a great couple of days for him.”

Joining Chudacoff in the top 10 was sophomore Chris Driscoll. Driscoll placed seventh but competed as an individual, meaning his score did not play into UR’s final team score. Freshman David Wien finished the weekend in 11th place, eight strokes behind Chudacoff.

“Our mindset going into the event was just to play our game and to compete from start to finish,” Wesley said. “I feel we did that, and we showed that the future of our program is extremely bright.”

Chudacoff got off to a quick start on Friday morning at Oak Hill Country Club — a 71-par course. After bogeying on the first hole, Chudacoff tallied three-straight birdies and finished the round at one under par — tied for the lead with Huntingdon College’s J.P. Kircher.

Huntingdon, ranked No. 1 in the country according to the most recent Golf Digest magazine poll, took the invitational crown thanks to three golfers shooting scores under 150. Skidmore College finished nine strokes behind Huntingdon to take second, and Carnegie Mellon University took third, finishing four strokes behind Skidmore.

For the ’Jackets, the second day — played at the 72-par Irondequoit Country Club — proved to be a bit of a stumbling block. Both Chudacoff and Wien shot scores on the second day that were five strokes higher than their first-day tallies.

“Playing our home course can certainly be an advantage for us, because we know where to hit the ball and where to avoid hitting the ball,” Wesley said, “but we still have to go out there and do it.”

Senior Jon Pecor was the only UR player to shoot better on the second day, finishing with a 14-over 157 and tied for 11th place.

“Even though we finished fourth of six, I was not completely disappointed with our performance,” Wesley said. “I feel that we hung in there and battled for the entire 36 holes, and we gave it all we had.”

UR doesn’t have much time to prepare for its next big test. This weekend, the Yellowjackets will travel to Emory University to play in the University Athletic Association Championships at the Royal Lakes Golf and Country Club.

The ’Jackets will again face tough competition — in addition to Carnegie Mellon, whom UR has matched up against each of the last two weekends, the Yellowjackets will also face Emory, who is ranked No. 12 in the nation according to Golf Digest.

Chudacoff was named Golfer of the Week by the UAA on Monday for his performance. And while the win this weekend will inevitably be a great stepping stone for future matches, the Kravetz Invitational was also important to the Glencoe, Ill. native for another reason.

“Overall, the weekend was solid with the way I played,” he said. “But the win was most special because my parents were in town to witness my first collegiate win.”

Hilfinger is a member of the class of 2010.