Courtesy of UR Athletics
In one final tune-up before this weekend’s Liberty League Championships, the men’s golf team hosted the two day Fred Kravetz Invitational, which began on Friday, April 20 and concluded Saturday, April 21.
The tournament draws many of the top-ranked teams in the east to the Oak Hill Country Club, in Irondequoit, N.Y., on a yearly basis. However, this year bore witness to something of an upset, as unranked Nebraska Wesleyan University ran away with a six-stroke victory over some of the region’s best teams.
Nebraska Wesleyan’s Prairie Wolves shot a collective 631, a score well ahead of second-place teams McDaniel College and Franklin and Marshall College, who each totaled 637 strokes. Franklin and Marshall is ranked second in the Mid-Atlantic region, while McDaniel is fourth. UR, which currently sits second in the Northeast, finished fifth out of six competing schools at the tournament by firing a 643 for the weekend.
Individually, sophomore Nick Palladino continued to prove his worth both as the Yellowjackets’ strongest player as well as one who excels in the clutch. After opening with a total of 78 strokes on day one of competition, Palladino shot a 76 on day two — the best among all players for that day, and even two strokes better than the tournament’s individual champion Drew Taylor, from Nebraska Wesleyan — to take third with a total of 154 strokes.
Taylor and Carnegie Mellon University’s Ian Bangor ended in a tie for first place with 153 strokes apiece, though Taylor emerged victorious in a tie-breaker on the back nine.
Senior David Wien was UR’s most consistent player, shooting a 79 on Saturday and a 78 on Sunday to claim a share of seventh place overall. After day one — in which he shot a 76 to sit in sixth place after the first day — junior Marc Youngentob recorded an 86 in Sunday’s rainy conditions to earn a split of 12th place. Sophomore William Mallia and senior Michael Chudacoff showed improvement between the two days, as both Mallia (80-90) and Chudacoff (81-91) sliced ten strokes off their respective day one scores to complete the UR showing. Mallia tied for 27th place overall, with Chudacoff right behind him in 29th.
The Yellowjackets will have to be on top of their game this coming weekend, when they face the No.18 Skidmore College Thoroughbreds and a host of other contenders at the Saratoga Golf Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. on Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29.
Bernstein is a member of the class of 2014.
