The golf team poses for a photo after winning the Carpetbagger Classic. PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
The University of Rhode Island Golf team picked up their second win of the season this past weekend at the Carpetbagger Classic, comfortably beating Robert Morris University by 13 strokes.
Head coach Gregg Burke was very satisfied with how the team played in the tournament.
“We won, so that’s always a good thing and by 13 strokes too,” Burke said. “Our guys played great and we hit on all cylinders.”
Redshirt senior Brandon Gillis was also the co-champion of the tournament, finishing with a 1-under 143.
Round 1 for the Rams showed how the weekend would go for them as they got off to a hot start. Gillis spearheaded the Rams’ great day with a 3-under 69, tying with Robert Morris’s Josh Nagy. Sophomore Jack Tegan finished the first round tied for fourth, shooting even par.
Strong performances in the first round continued with senior Jordan Brajcich coming in tied for seventh, shooting a 73. Junior Bryson Richards ended the day tied for 33rd, shooting a 5-over 77. Senior Austin Fox rounded out the team, ending the day tied for 45th place with a seven-over 79. At the end of the first day, URI led with a total team score of 291, three strokes in front of second-place Robert Morris.
In Round 2, the Rams improved overall as a team with three of their five golfers finishing inside the top 10. Leading the day were Richards and Fox, who both finished with a 2-under 70. Tegan shot a six-over 78 in the second round, but still remained within the Top 15 in the tournament.
Gillis finished the day with a 2-over-74, but his strong performance in Round 1 helped him stay at the top of the leaderboard. Brajcich had a better outing on the first day than the second day as he finished Round 2 with a score of seven-over 79.
Richards’ strong second day helped him jump 27 spots up the leaderboard as he finished in sixth place with 3-over 147.
Fox’s equally impressive performance on Day 2 made him jump an astonishing 38 spots in a five-way tie for seventh place. He rounded off the tournament with a score of 5-over 149. Tegan had a career-best finish as he managed to tie for 12th. URI’s final golfer was Brajcich, who tied for 21st, finishing with an 8-over 152.
“Our goal is to keep improving each tournament, get one more good score a day,” Gillis said. “We’ve got a couple of guys who haven’t hit their true form yet, so it’s all about getting better before [Atlantic] 10 play.”
Their next outing will be on Saturday and Sunday when they partake in the Battle at Plumpointe in Berlin, Md. The event will last all day both days as Rhody will look to have another strong performance.
“The weather is supposed to be cold and windy, but I think we’ve got a small advantage because it’s a lot like that in Rhode Island, so we’re used to it,” Gillis said. “We’re feeling really good. Me personally, I’m more confident after this weekend, so we’ll just have to see how everything goes.”