Last weekend, the UR golf team got a chance to enjoy the gorgeous scenery of the east coast as they swung to a second place finish in the Ocean City Golf Classic in Maryland.
The men placed second overall behind Allegheny University with 638 strokes.
After day one of the two-day tournament, sophomore John Semeniak led the Yellow-jackets in the effort by shooting 74.
Sophomore Dave Masters had a 78, junior Scott Clyde an 81, junior Mike Quijano an 82 and senior captain Joe Quijano with an 85.
Allegheny edged UR at the end of Saturday, with 304 points, 11 strokes under the Yellowjackets’ 315.
Day two of the tournament was another good one for the Yellowjackets, with Semeniak and Clyde again leading for UR.
“Going into the tournament, we felt we could win,” head coach Rich Johnson said.
“We came off a win last weekend against St. John Fisher, a second in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference and two thirds in the last four tournaments.”
Despite the second place finish, Johnson still found the positive play by the Yellowjackets in a tournament that featured some of the NCAA’s best.
“The highlight of our performance was definitely the tie for fourth place by John and the continued steady play of Dave Masters,” Johnson said.
“John played two strong rounds under difficult windy [and] cold conditions and he proved that he deserves to be a top five player for us,” he continued.
Semeniak bounced back from a poor showing at the Oct. 15 St. John Fisher College Invitational. Semeniak had finished 11th for UR with 80 strokes.
However, senior Joe Quijano led UR to a strong win during inclement weather.
Quijano wrapped up the 18-hole tournament with 74, leading the Yellowjackets to a solid win ? its first this fall.
“This team is in good position to get a bid to the NCAA championship next May and poised to be the best team in the NCAA Div. III mid-east region,” Johnson said.
“We are looking forward to several tournaments in the spring where we will have the opportunity to face Alleghany [University],” he added.
Alleghany University is notably one of the best teams in the northeast region.
Ocean City Classic is the final tournament for the Yellowjackets this fall. UR will pick up its swing again early March.
Wu can be reached at jwu@campustimes.org.
