The University of Rhode Island golf team wrapped up its regular season on Sunday, traveling to State College, Pa., for the Rutherford Intercollegiate at the Penn State Blue Course, hosted by Penn State University.
Taking place across two days, the event featured 13 colleges and universities, including two Atlantic 10 schools: George Mason University and Loyola University Chicago. The schools played two 18-hole rounds on day one and a single round on day two.
“We don’t go to tournaments to play against teams,” Rhode Island head coach Gregg Burke said. “We go to play against the golf course; it wasn’t an A-10 tournament. We came in third, doesn’t matter who we beat, who we lost to, we went there to try and win and we didn’t.”
Five Rams, fourth-year captain Aidan O’Donovan, second-years Luke Stennett, Tyler Bruneau, and third-years Josiah Tong and Tony Liu, all represented Rhode Island. The team held qualifying play during practice leading up to the tournament.
“Every player eligible to compete got a chance to qualify,” Burke said. “We ended up with the same team we’ve taken to every tournament but one.”
On the first day, Bruneau shot three under in the second round, hitting four birdies and only one bogey to shoot 24 shots up the leaderboard. Bruneau was within three strokes of the leaders heading into Sunday.
“He’s been our best player this entire second semester,” Burke said. “For him to play well wasn’t a surprise, but it was great to see because he takes it very seriously. He works very hard, never gives up and has a great attitude.”
Stennett sat even in the second round and was tied for 33rd in the standings. At three-over was O’Donovan, who played a solid opening round, sitting three-under through 11 holes of play. Tong was one stroke behind Stennett and O’Donovan.
Rhode Island sat in seventh place out of the 13 schools after day one, sitting nine over par. Penn State was five strokes ahead of the entire field at eight-under.
Going into day two, Burke delivered a message that stayed with the team.
“Coach Burke, before the round, told us the question that everyone’s asking is ‘What happened to us?’” Bruneau said. “Coach told us to play the last round like it’s the first round of A-10s. Go out there, play golf, give it your all, and I think we all did that.”
The Rams finished strong, with the lowest team score of the day to move four spots up the leaderboard to place third overall.
“I don’t think it’s impressive,” Burke said. “They played the way they can play. Huge comebacks are also preceded by poor rounds. You can’t have a huge comeback if you’re playing well because there’s nothing to come back from.”
The team was five strokes ahead of the other schools in the field, scoring six under. Rhode Island was in the first group to tee off when temperatures were in the 30s.
“The course was wet, and we played in the coldest part of the day, windiest part, and we played great golf,” Burke said. “That’s who they are, they’re tough-minded and good players. Nothing that surprised me, I hope they can do that again for three rounds in Florida.”
Bruneau was under par for the second straight round with five birdies and three-under for the final eight holes to finish the tournament tied for third place.
“It felt good,” Bruneau said. “I haven’t played to my standard this spring. It felt really good and helped the team out. Finishing on a strong note, especially going into A-10s, is big. We have a lot of momentum right now, it’s our best round we’ve had all spring and our best finish this spring.”
Tong was three-under on the final day, moving up 28 spots into 10th place. O’Donovan and Liu delivered the other scoring rounds for the Rams.
Next up, the Rams resume activity on Monday and will compete for an Atlantic 10 Championship at Grand Cypress Links Course in Orlando, Fla.
“It’s a tough golf course down there,” Bruneau said. “ I think we’ve got to focus, get some good practice in this week and focus around the greens when we get down there. Especially in the change of grass, we don’t play in a lot of Bermuda grass. It comes down to this: this is the biggest part of our year that we look forward to.”
Last spring, Rhode Island placed sixth out of 12 teams in the Atlantic 10 Championship, where Stennett was named A-10 Rookie of the Year.
