College Golf
Day One - Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships
Orlando, Fla.--The Rider University men's golf team is competing at the 2011 Metro Atlantic Athletic Championships, hosted by Disney's Magnolia Golf Course in Orlando, April 29-May 1.
After the opening 18 holes at the par 72, 7,073 yard course, Rider shot 328 and the Broncs are in eighth place after day one.
"This was a very disappointing first round," said head coach Bob Whartenby. "We had a rough start and it was difficult to make up ground when the winds picked up. We are going to try and get off to a faster start on Saturday."
Senior Brian Accorsini (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) shot an opening round of 77 and is tied for 12th place out of 47 golfers.
"Brian was able to come back strong a shoot even par on the back nine which led to his 77 finish," Whartenby added.
Freshman James Buttermark (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) shot 79 on the first 18 holes and is in 22nd place.
Junior Chris Wolak (Issaquah, Wash./Hopkinton), who was 13th at MAACs in 2010, shot an opening round 86 and is tied with teammate, senior Jordan Wycoff (Fort Washington, Pa./Saint Stephen's Episcopal) for 40th place. Wycoff was 16th at MAAC last season.
Senior Brent Wolgast (Bay City, Mich./Pendleton), who was 11th last season at MAACs, shot 88 on his opening 18 holes and is tied for 43rd place.
Loyola (297) leads the field by one shot over Siena (298). Iona is third (304), followed by Canisius (309), Manhattan (312), Fairfield (315), Saint Peter's (318), Rider (328) and Niagara (336).
In 2010, Rider was third (302-312-300), with the Broncs shooting 914, 10 strokes behind champion Loyola. Rider was sixth at MAACs in 2009 after a runner-up finish in 2008.
Competition continues through Sunday.
-RU-
