The University of Rhode Island men’s golf team finished 11th out of 12 teams this past weekend at the rainy Macdonald Cup in New Haven, CT.
The Rams were without their top player, Bryson Richards, who remained home due to back spasms. Head Coach Gregg Burke spoke on Richards’ absence, and detailed that the loss of Bryson should not have played that big of a factor.
“In addition to having that guy who is going to give us red numbers, there [was] clearly a loss of leadership, that happens,” Burke said. “At the end of the day, we didn’t play with focus, we didn’t play with toughness, and the toughness has been our trademark for the last decade or so… it’s reversible, but it was a very poor showing.”
The first day was a middle of the pack outing for the Rams. All five golfers finished the round within four strokes of each other. Second-year Aidan O’Donovan led the charge with a two-over 72, placing him tied for 11th after the first 18 holes.
First-year Tony Liu’s three-over 73 was another productive score for Rhode Island, placing him in a tie for 19th place. First-year Owen Rooney carded a four-over 74, and fourth-year Geronimo Narizzano matched him. First-year Seb Carlsson came in at the tail end with a six-over 76.
Day two was another key performance from O’Donovan – a second two-over finish moved him up five spots into a tie for 6th place. Liu moved back three spots with a five-over 75, while Narizzano, Rooney and Calrsson all dropped down dramatically on the leaderboard after round two, all moving south at least 10 spots.
Day three saw a drastic shake up of the leaderboard, with O’Donovan dropping out of contention with a rough start to his final round. The second-year started seven-over through the first nine holes before compiling a flatlined back nine. However, the damage was done, and O’Donovan dropped all the way out of the top-10 and into a tie for 19th to finish the weekend.
Liu once again gave a solid performance, which he had done all weekend, a four-over 74 moved him up one spot to a tie for 21st. Burke is very pleased with what he has seen from the first-year out of Bradenton, FL, but says that this outing was nothing near what he is capable of.
“Tony is flat out a gifted athlete and [a] tremendous talent,” Burke said. “He literally has the physical capabilities, the mindset, the determination to be a top-five player in the history of URI, not just now… He played well in relation to our team but not in relation to what he is capable of.”
Rooney finished with a four-over 74 to place him tied for 48th, Narizzano’s seven-over 77 saw him tie for 52nd and Carlsson’s 10-over 80 dropped him down to a tie for 62nd to finish the tournament.
As a team, Rhode Island only finished ahead of Fordham, who they beat by seven strokes. Yale won the tournament with a final tally of 16-over, while Seton Hall came in second with Georgetown behind them.
Burke understood that the poor weather over the weekend was a factor in the poor scores, but not an excuse.
“It was 60 degrees and it rained a lot the final day,” Burke said. “I’m not really a weatherman, but I have a pretty good sense that it rained on everyone and not just us.”
Men’s Golf is back in action this coming weekend when they travel to Hampden, MA to compete in the University of Connecticut Invitational at Greathorse.