This week, the Yellowjacket golf team found themselves in the sand again. This time it was the Mid-Atlantic Regional Invitational in Hershey, Pa. on the Hershey Country Club East Course. The course par was 71, which was a number few of the players were able to get near in the two rounds played.
Junior Stephen Goodridge was the only one able to master the course for the Yellowjackets. He played the first round five over par, tying him for first place among several other competitors who cupped a 76 that day. In the second round, though, Goodridge kicked it up a few notches and carded a 73 to give him a score of 149 for the tournament.
“It was a ‘grind-it-out’ kind of tournament, and in tournaments like these, I like to be patient and let everyone else make mistakes out there,” Goodridge said.
The rest of the players in the field couldn’t keep up with Goodridge and faltered in the second round. His closest competitor, Chuck Attonen from Franklin and Marshall College, couldn’t best his score from the second round and finished it the way he started the tournament with a 76.
“I thought I had my B game this weekend,” Goodridge said. “I certainly didn’t play great, but I tried not to let the weather bother me and let it bother everyone else, so I think an attitude like that gave me an advantage over a lot of people.”
Goodridge’s 149 put him at the top of the leaderboard and made it the third tournament this year where he was number one. The last two first-place finishes came in the fall at the St. Lawrence University Invitational and the Williams Invitational.
The three top finishes from this year makes it seven total for Goodridge in his career as a member of the NCAA Division III squad.
The rest of the squad fared poorly as a result of the unbearable weather.
“The tournament this past weekend was one of the coldest we’ve ever played in,” Goodridge said. “It snowed for about 20 minutes in the practice round, and snow was starting to accumulate on the greens.”
Senior Joe Derrigo carded an 85 in his first round and an 82 in the second to put him at 39th. Warner School student Chris Wuest earned a 82 and 86 for his tournament performance, spotting him at 43rd.
Sophomore Jon Pecor couldn’t find his stroke at all, carding a 90 in the first round.
He made up for it, in the second with an 80, ranking him at No. 49 for the tournament. Freshman Brandon Isobe bottomed out with a 95 in the first, but shaved off a dozen in the second with an 83 to give him 67th.
Goodridge and the Yellowjackets head to Apollo, Pa. next weekend to take part in the Shootout at the Links tournament. Afterward, the team will compete in the University Athletic Association Championships for a chance to defend their regional title.
“As for this upcoming weekend, I think we have a good chance at defending our title at Carnegie Mellon,” Goodridge said. “We always play well at their course, and we are in desperate need of a team win, so we should be up to the task.”
Serafini is a member of the class of 2008.
