Over the weekend, the golf team kicked off its spring schedule by finishing fifth out of a possible 12 teams competing at the Peter C. Rosin Memorial Classic at South Point Golf Club, hosted by Washington and Jefferson College.
Overall, members felt the stormy weather hindered their performance.
“We played in some tough conditions, rainy and cold,” sophomore Joe Derrigo said. “I think that we all could have done better.”
The team was prepped to make a run on the final day, entering Sunday with a team total of 309 strokes from Saturday’s match.
Saturday’s performance placed the Yellowjackets at fifth place, only three shots out of third and one shot shy of fourth place.
However, tournament organizers cancelled play on Sunday due to predictions of harsh weather in the area.
Three UR golfers scored under 80 strokes for the day. Freshman Steve Goodridge led the team with a 74, placing him in sixth place individually.
Sophomore Robert Sherman’s 75 strokes tied him for ninth place in the tournament and classmate Colin Quillian followed with a 79 for a 25th-place finish.
“Sherman stepped it up and played well this past weekend,” Derrigo said. “It was great that he was able to go out and play a good round in tough conditions. We’ll definitely need him to continue to play well.”
Derrigo and fellow sophomore Patrick Shannahan chipped in with an 81 and 85 strokes, respectively, to round out UR’s total.
The team’s fifth-place finish has already put pressure on the team to qualify for this spring’s NCAA tournament.
According to Head Coach Richard Johnson, in order to qualify, the team needs to record top-three finishes at its first three spring tournaments.
“We need to win two of our remaining three events to have a shot at Nationals,” Derrigo said. “It’s definitely achievable because we have five really solid players, all of whom have the potential to shoot good scores.”
Depending on their performance this upcoming weekend, the Yellowjackets will have to win one or both of their next two tournaments.
This weekend, the team heads to Pennsylvania once again to participate in the Hershey Invitational held at the East Course of Hershey Golf Club.
“This weekend should give us nice conditions, and I think we can all step it up,” Derrigo said. “Everyone will need to play their best to win this [tournament].”
Additional reporting by John Serafini.
Allard can be reached at dallard@campustimes.org.
