Freshman Patrick Shanahan won the Williams College Golf Invitational with a three-over 145, leading the golf team to a runner-up finish last weekend.
In only the second event of his college career, Shanahan shot a 73 on the first day and 72 on the second to clinch a three-stroke victory at the 22-team tournament. He finished ahead of University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth’s Blake Wilson, Manhattanville College’s Martin Maguire and Skidmore College’s Charles Kroman, all of whom carded a 148.
“I drove the ball very well and I didn’t putt bad either,” Shanahan said, who shot a tournament-high seven birdies. “Most importantly, I didn’t make any big mistakes. That really ended up being the key for me.”
“We’re pleased with the scoring leadership that Patrick showed us once again,” Head Coach Rich Johnson said. “He’s establishing himself as one of the best college players in our region of Division III.”
This week Shanahan was named Golfer of the Week by both the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association and University Athletic Association for his dominance at Taconic Golf Club.
Fellow freshman Colin Quillinan shot a 151 in his first NCAA tournament. Senior co-captains Dave Masters and Jason Bronstein tied for 14th place with a 12-over 154.
Masters’ 73 on the first day had him in the early lead, but an uncharacteristic 81 on the final day dropped him further down the leaderboard.
Also for UR, junior Andy Salvatore carded a 167.
As a team, the Yellowjackets posted a two-day 614, finishing three strokes behind conference rival Skidmore, which shot a 611. UMass-Dartmouth came in third with a 615.
The second place finish was especially hard for the Yellowjackets to swallow because of a bizarre series of events on day one that lead to a score disqualification.
After his approach on the 13th hole, Quillinan inadvertently played the ball of another player. If the mistake would have been corrected before the players teed off again, Quillinan would only have been forced to take a two-stroke penalty. But the error was not realized until three holes later, and Quillinan’s final score was disqualified. Had Quillinan’s 75 counted for UR that day, the Yellowjackets would have scored a 604 for the tournament, good enough for the victory.
“It was a combination of circumstances that would have been too difficult to avoid. It wasn’t necessarily Colin’s fault,” Johnson said. “It could have happened to anybody.”
Thursday, the Yellowjackets will simultaneously compete in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Upstate New York Qualifier and UCAA Championships at Saratoga State Park in Saratoga, N.Y.
Fifteen schools will play in the regional qualifier where the top six or seven advance to the ECAC Championships Oct. 4-5 at Saratoga.
At last season’s qualifier the Yellowjackets finished third with a 300.
Five players can compete in the ECAC qualifier while the UCAA’s allow up to seven.
UR will get another shot at the Skidmore squad it came close to beating last weekend.
“We proved last week at Williams that we can beat [Skidmore]. We feel we can win the whole tournament,” Shanahan said. “They’re definitely the main challenge.”
Gerton can be reached at mgerton@campustimes.org.
