The Yellowjackets squared off against some of their region competitors this weekend in the Fisher-Nazareth Shootout hosted by two neighboring schools, St. John Fisher College and Nazareth College. St. John Fisher hosted the first round at their home course, Cobblestone Country Club and Nazareth sponsored the second round on its home turf at the Irondequoit Country Club.
Trying to find any footing in this tournament was like trying to nail Jello to the wall. Neither course offered the Yellowjackets much leniency in their shotmaking, not allowing any player to get a consistently low score. While every player had trouble, overall, the team had a decent tournament showing.
The team completed their first round at Cobblestone with 308 strokes and mirrored that outcome in the second round at Irondequoit to put them up at 616 strokes. The 616 was enough to put the Yellowjacekts in fourth place out of a field of nine. St. John Fisher finished at the top of the pack with 599, Washington and Jefferson University took second with 609, and Allegheny College was right behind with 610 strokes. Senior Joe Derrigo placed ahead of his teammates at the end of the weekend, shooting 154, which placed him at ninth overall in the field. Derrigo got off to a rough start in the first round cupping an 80. He rebounded in the second round whizzing through the course with a 74, the lowest score among a Yellowjacket player in a single round for that weekend.
Sophomore Jon Pecor and junior Steven Goodridge delivered twin performances with 76 strokes in the first round and 79 in the second. Their scores of 155 earned them a seat in the tournament’s 12 spot. Chris Wuest couldn’t find a good enough groove at Cobblestone cupping just an 80 in the first round. However he improved his game at Irondequoit showing some love for the course with a 76. The 156 was good enough for 15th place.
Freshman Brandon Isobe handled Cobblestone well with a 76, but he had trouble at Irondequoit, finishing the second round with an 81, putting him at 18th place overall.
The fourth place finish doesn’t serve the team’s best interest, which is gaining entrance into the NCAA Division III Championship. While the outcome reflects a negative response in the team’s bid for postseason slot, the Yellowjackets have still put together a very solid showing in the first half. They hope to wash the stale taste of fourth place from their mouth at the McDaniel Fall Tournament, the fall season capper, and have the ship righted when the second half of the season gets underway in March.
Serafini can be reached at jserafini@campustimes.org.
