Coming off a first place team finish at the Cape Fear National Intercollegiate, the Rhode Island Men’s golf team took a step back this past weekend.
The Rams finished 11th out of 14 teams at the FAU Spring Championship, hosted by Florida Atlantic University at Osprey Point Golf Club. Overall there were 78 players taking on the Par 72 in Boca Raton, Florida. The course for the tournament was playing at under 7,000 yards, with 6,786 yards being the official number.
Featured at the tournament were teams such as Central Florida, Florida Gulf Coast, Southern Illinois and Houston Baptist. UCF took home first place, with a team score of 35 under par. Also taking part in the tournament were come in conference foes for Rhode Island. The George Mason Patriots, also of the Atlantic 10, finished in a tie for ninth for the tournament, with a team score of even par. The Rams finished with a team score of 12 over par, and were paced by Dawson Jones. Jones finished the tournament tied for 18th at three under par. He started the tournament with a first round score of a one over par 73, then rallied the next two rounds with a one under 71 and a terrific three under 69 in his final day.
“Dawson is a stalwart and everything we hoped he’d be,” said Head Coach Gregg Burke. “He has played in every tournament for us except one. He was part of the best ‘Top Three’ we’ve ever had, and now leads one of the other best Top Threes. I believe he has an excellent chance to win the A10 Championship.”
Brody King also finished under par for the tournament, coming in tied for 21st, shooting a combined one under par for the tournament, with his lowest round also being a three under 69. Chris Francoeur, fresh off an Atlantic 10 co-golfer of the week award, finished in a tie for 38th shooting a combined two over par for the tournament.
“Chris has been terrific,” said Burke. “He won at Cape Fear and had three solid rounds at FAU. He is a much better golfer than he was a year ago. Once his putter gets as hot as the rest of his game, watch out.”
Jason Short finished in a tie for 72nd and shot a combined 16 over par, with Austin Fox rounding out Rhody, finishing tied for 76th with an overall score of 19 over par.
“We have gotten better through every event,” said Burke. “At Aiken we played the toughest golf course and the best field of my eight years, all after not being outside very much. At FAU we played a great field, largely southern, all of whom had played the course before, in some cases a ton, and have been playing since early February.”