The University of Rhode Island men’s golf team made a Sunday charge up the leaderboard to finish tied for fourth at The Rutherford Intercollegiate hosted by Pennsylvania State University this weekend.
In round one on Saturday morning, second-year Aidan O’Donovan made the most of his first start in nearly a month. He went one-under across his final five holes on his way to a round of two-over. Following the round, he was in the top 10 on the individual leaderboard and just four shots back of the lead.
“Aidan hadn’t played well for the previous six tournaments and he addressed some things personally,” URI Head Coach Gregg Burke said. “Even though it was windy, he came out and his scores were great.”
Fifth-year Bryson Richards was coming off an individual win at the Dragon Match Play Invitational, but got off to a rough start as he shot six-over on his first nine. The second nine, however, featured one of the highlights of his time at Rhode Island. On the par three eighth hole, Richards made a hole-in-one for the first time in his collegiate career.
“It came at really a perfect time,” Richards said. “I had made a couple bogies and was just trying to get out of there and manage the damage as well as I could and then just hit a great shot.”
As a team, Rhode Island struggled throughout the opening round in the windy conditions as they shot 20-over and sat in 10th place.
Rhode Island improved their score by seven strokes in round two and made a slight move up the leaderboard to tie for ninth. O’Donovan led the way once again as he put together a round of one-over and was still in the mix, just five shots back of the individual lead.
First-year Seb Carlsson had a chaotic back nine with two bogies, a double bogey and four birdies, which all resulted in a score of even par. For the round, he shot two-over and was tied for 27th for the tournament at eight-over. Burke said he’s been impressed with Carlsson despite his lack of experience.
“He [Carlsson] doesn’t always hit it perfectly because he’s still learning how to be a good ball striker,” Burke said. “But, no matter what happens, he hits the ball, he’ll find it, he hits it again and he’ll find a way to put the ball in the hole.”
In the final round of the tournament on Sunday, the Rams made their climb up the leaderboard. They drastically improved their score to even par, tied for second-best in the field on Sunday and ended up finishing tied for fourth place at 33-over.
O’Donovan saw himself right in the heart of contention down the stretch on Sunday after going three-under in his opening 16 holes. He did make back-to-back bogies to finish his day, but it was still an under par round and gave him a finish of tied for fifth at three-over – the first top five of his collegiate career. Burke talked about how proud he was of O’Donovan in a multitude of different ways following his return to the lineup.
“There’s eight guys from a Big 10 [Conference] school that play [this course] everyday and he [O’Donovan] beat all but one,” Burke said. “But, what I’m impressed with the most is that he had some off-course issues that he had to take care of and he worked as hard at those in the last three or four weeks as he did at his golf.”
Aside from the hole-in-one, Richards struggled through the first two rounds as he shot 10-over and was outside the top 40 heading into the day. However, down the stretch on Sunday he played a huge role in helping the Rams make their move up the leaderboard. He made four consecutive birdies on the back nine on his way to a round of four-under.
“I always tell myself to play the percentages,” Richards said. “If you miss your first three or four putts, there’s a good chance the next two or three might go in, so you just have to keep yourself in that mindset.”
Despite the struggles in the opening rounds, Richards used this stretch of birdies to secure a finish of tied 12th at six-over. He jumped nearly 30 spots on the individual leaderboard on the final day.
“The conditions were pretty tough the first two rounds,” Richards said. “But, I just woke up the next morning with a fresh mind and stuck to the same gameplan.”
First-year Josiah Tong, who missed the second round due to a knee injury, was unable to qualify for the individual leaderboard but still contributed to the team score as he returned to play in the final round. He came out lighting up the scorecard on Sunday with a front nine of four-under. Despite giving back five shots on the back nine, his round of one-over was still crucial to the team’s finish.
“We had that final round with Josiah playing largely on one leg, which in golf is just ridiculous,” Burke said. “If he had been 100% and he’s four-under, on the back he would’ve had a chance to go six-under.”
As for the rest of the team, Carlsson had a tough finish in the final round, finishing in a tie for 42nd at 13-over. Meanwhile, fourth-year Geronimo Narizzano finished at 16-over and in a tie for 48th.
Looking ahead, Burke confirmed that they will stick with the same lineup as this event when they travel to Orlando, Florida for the Atlantic 10 Championship on April 26-28. URI will look to carry the momentum from this strong Sunday finish and contend for the A-10 title.