After one day at the Mid-Atlantic Region Invitational, the golf team eyed first place from just outside medal contention.
The men couldn’t keep up the pressure at the Hershey Country Club and eventually fell to eighth place out of 15 teams after the second day of competition. They shot a total score of 632.
‘The team and I struggled this week,” junior Chris Driscoll said. ‘Golf is a funny game; sometimes you just feel like you can’t get the ball to go in the hole and this was one of those weeks.”
The best score over the two days for the Yellowjackets came from junior Kevin Gay who shot a 153 total for seventh place individually.
The golf team’s next match will come at the Edwards Jones Shootout hosted by Carnegie Mellon University. That will be UR’s last away tournament of the season.
‘We have a great opportunity to right the ship this weekend in Pittsburgh, Pa. [Edwards Jones Shootout Invitational] and we look forward to the challenge,” head coach Dan Wesley said.
The men look to put this disappointing tournament behind them as the University Athletic Association Championships are fast approaching.
‘We can’t worry about this week anymore, it’s over and we just have to focus on the tournaments we have left by working on fundamentals at practice,” Driscoll said.
The team will rely on sophomores David Wien, Mike Chudacoff, junior Ryan Williams and Driscoll in the coming meets.
Wien was the UAA Rookie of the Year last season at the UAA Championships and won second overall. His experience should prove important for the ‘Jackets.
‘As far as preparing for the UAA Championships, we just need to worry about being the best we can be every day in practice,’ Wesley said. ‘Game day takes care of itself if you practice well.”
The Yellowjackets took home third place in the 2009 UAA Championships and have much to improve on before returning to their previous glory.
The Yellowjackets will host the UAA Championships this season at Locust Hill Country Club, where they will have a home field advantage.
Manrique is a member of the class of 2012.
