With the spring season in full swing, the golf team shows signs of peaking at just the right time by riding two days worth of strong play to three straight second-place finishes at the Edward Jones Shootout, hosted by Carnegie Mellon University.
The weekend was a total team effort as their two-day total of 591 was only five strokes off the pace set by Allegheny College and 11 strokes in front of third place finisher Seton Hill College.
UR was once again led by the one-two punch of freshman Stephen Goodridge and sophomore Patrick Shanahan. Goodridge took medalist honors for the second week in a row with a two-day total of 141, while Shanahan’s 71 on day two put him in a fifth-place tie with a 147. Sophomore Colin Quillinan recognized the superb play of the team’s two leaders.
“Steve is unreal, in all honesty he probably doesn’t belong in Division III golf, he could play for most Top-25 Division I schools,” Quillinan said.
Despite the strong and consistent play of the team’s two big guns, Quillinan knows, it’s the scoring of the team’s other players that will lead the team to success.
“We can’t just rely on Steve and Pat,” Quillinan said. “We need five solid scores [during each tournament].”
Quillinan helped the cause this weekend by carding two rounds of 75, placing him outside the top 10 in individual scoring. Sophomores Joe Derrigo and Robert Sherman also contributed with two sub-80 rounds, finishing with total of 153 and 160 respectively. Even with his personal success, Quillinan felt the need for improvement.
“I have been hitting the ball pretty good lately,” Quillinan said. “I need to go lower though – two rounds of five over par each aren’t bad, but I know I can do better.”
UR will play host at the UAA Championships at Stafford Country Club in Stafford, N.Y. on April 25 and 26. Their play there will help decide whether they qualify for NCAA tournament play.
Allard can be reached at dallard@campustimes.org.
