The University of Rhode Island golf team was back in action at Galloway National Golf Club in Galloway, N.J., competing in the Wildcat Spring Invitational.
The Wildcat Invitational, hosted by Villanova University, featured 12 teams. The Wildcats finished first overall in the tournament, beating out Georgetown University by two strokes. URI shot 24-over par as a team across the course of the tournament.
“We didn’t do anything well,” URI head coach Gregg Burke said. “It was one of our worst performances in many, many years. We were absolutely horrendous on the par fours, and we just weren’t tough… We were the best team in the field, and we didn’t play like it.”
Second-year Tyler Bruneau was the top performer for the Rams; he finished the tournament tied for 15th overall and shot 13-over par.
URI combined for 30 bogeys, three double bogeys, one triple bogey and a quadruple bogey. Rhody did, however, have eight birdies and an eagle.
“The scores were up in general because it was a phenomenal golf course,” Burke said. “The wind made it treacherous, but it was the same conditions for everybody, and we weren’t tough enough.”
The Rams have one tournament left before they compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship. Rhody will look to bring some momentum going into the A-10 Tournament after their rough outing at the Wildcat Invitational.
URI will make the trip to State College, Pa., in an attempt to get back on track in The Rutherford Intercollegiate.
“We’re going to a total team qualifying,” Burke said. “There’s no one exempt. We did a mini-qualifier while we were gone, and now we’re going to have six guys playing for five spots.”
Rhode Island has shown what they are capable of before; in the fall, URI competed in six tournaments as a team and won four of them. They finished no lower than fourth overall in any of those six tournaments.
“You’ll have to decide, is this the team that played in the fall or the team that played in the spring?” Burke said. “Because the team that played in the fall was pretty damn good… One of the top three teams I’ve had in my 15 years, and now we are nowhere near that. This is a personal pride thing, this is not a golf thing, this is personal pride and toughness, and we lack toughness.”
The Rams will tee off at The Rutherford Intercollegiate in Pennsylvania on April 18.
