The University of Rhode Island men’s golf team traveled to Urbana, Maryland this weekend for the Carpetbagger Classic, a tournament that they had won both of the past two years.
The Rams were coming off a fifth-place finish in their first tournament of the spring season, the Surf Club Invitational in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on March 11-12. They got a pair of top-five individual finishes in this tournament from first-year Tony Liu, who finished six-under par, and fifth-year Bryson Richards finishing seven-under par.
Fourth-year Geronimo Narizzano was the one to lead the way for Rhode Island in the opening round on Saturday in Maryland. He put together a round of two-under which had him at the top of the individual leaderboard. This, along with Liu sitting in the top five, gave the Rams a six-shot lead on the rest of the field as a team at five-over par following round one.
In round two on Sunday, Mount St. Mary’s University made an early charge and overtook Rhode Island at the top of the leaderboard. The Mountaineers quickly made up 15 strokes throughout the opening holes and all of a sudden had a four-shot lead on the Rams.
“We gave up 15 shots in six or seven holes which was tremendously disappointing on our end,” URI Head Coach Gregg Burke said. “We learned a very, very bad lesson that every shot is precious.”
Richards had been struggling as he sat at three-over for his round and four-over for the tournament through 11 holes on Sunday, but he caught fire in the final stretch and led a charge back towards the top of both the individual and team leaderboards. In the final seven holes of the tournament, Richards birdied five of them on his way to a round two of three-under.
“Golf at times can be really challenging and you have to be really patient,” Richards said. “I was burning edges and lipping out putts early in the round, then in the last five or six holes those 25 and 30 footers that were close started going in.”
In the end, Richards finished one-over for the tournament and in a tie for third, just one shot off the individual lead. For the second straight week, it was a top five finish for him as he continued his strong start to the spring season.
As a team, Rhode Island made up their deficit down the stretch on Sunday and finished tied at the top with Mount St. Mary’s at 15-over par. However, the Mountaineers won the tiebreaker and took home the title, ending the chances for a three-peat at this tournament for URI.
“I think this will eventually end up being a good thing for us,” Richards said. “It stings to not walk away with the win in the playoff, but at least each and every one of us can take something away.”
Despite not being able to finish off the win, the Rams also got big contributions from Liu as he finished tied with Richards at one-over par and in third place. Liu is only a first-year, but he has made it clear that he is a vital piece to this team with back-to-back top five finishes.
“Tony is the most physically gifted golfer I’ve ever had and one of the most physically gifted golfers at URI in the past 50 years,” Burke said. “He has unlimited potential and he will be a superstar.”
After being in the lead following round one, Narizzano was unable to find that same momentum in round two as he shot 11-over par. The round saw him drop back from the top of the leaderboard down to a tie for 28th place. Even with the disappointing finish, Burke expressed the confidence that he has in Narizzano to put this final round behind him.
“[Narizzano] has shown the toughness that this team has lacked,” Burke said. “He’s a very strong minded and proud kid and he will bounce back with a vengeance.”
As for the rest of the team, first-year Josiah Tong finished at eight-over and in a tie for 22nd and second-year Aidan O’Donovan finished 12-over and tied for 41st.
Looking ahead, the next time the team will be in action is at the Cutter Creek Intercollegiate in Snow Hill, North Carolina on March 29-31. Burke outlined what the preparation will look like for this tournament and some of the possible changes to be made in the lineup.
“There’s two guys that sat out the past two tournaments that are itching to play and working hard so we’re going to take a look at what’s best for the program,” Burke said. “Cutter is a much tougher golf course than what we played and a much tougher field by a long shot so we need to be ready.”
The URI golf team will have the weekend off before they continue their quest for their first win of the year in North Carolina.