College Golf
Rider Competes at MAAC Championships
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.-The Rider University golf team heads to Florida April 27-29 to compete at the 54-hole Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference golf championships.
The 47 player tournament is being held at par 72, 7,073 yard Magnolia Golf Course in Disney World and will begin on Friday from the 10th hole at 7:30am.
Disney's Magnolia Golf Course features wide fairways dotted with 97 bunkers. It represents a paradise for serious golfers, as well as a thrilling challenge for players at all levels.
Highlights from all three rounds, produced by ESPN, will be available on MAAC.TV at the end of each day.
"I'm really looking forward to MAACs," said head coach Bob Whartenby. "I believe the Magnolia Golf Course sets up well for the style of golf we play. It's long but wide open. We are coming off our best showing of 309 for the semester at the Peacock Invitational this past week."
Last season, Rider was eighth of nine teams with a three-round total of 977 (328-326-323).
Loyola Maryland was the 2011 men's champion with a three-day total of 895 with Siena's Don Denyse earning the McLeod trophy as the individual medalist after winning in a playoff. The Greyhounds enter the championship as the four-time defending champion.
The men's and women's individual champions will each receive McLeod Memorial Award trays engraved by JJ Mele of Pelham who has prepared every award offered by the program. Both of the 2012 Champions will have their names inscribed on the permanent McLeod Memorial Award Tray.
The Charles "Scott" McLeod Award has been presented annually since 1986 to the men's and women's individual winners of the MAAC Championship. The award has been presented in memory of a graduate of Pelham Memorial High School '75 and Iona College '80, who passed away in 1985. Scott McLeod was an enthusiastic golfer, a member of the Pelham Country Club, and a sponsor of the MAAC Golf Championship when the event was first held at Pelham.
Current sophomore James Buttermark (Staten Island, N.Y/Monsignor Farrell) tied for seventh as a Rider rookie at the 2011 MAAC championships after rounds of 79-76-75 (230), earning All-MAAC honors for his top 10 finish.
Buttermark is averaging 78.90 in his 20 rounds for the season (nine tournaments) with one top-20 finish and a low round of 69.
"James is coming off a seventh place finish last year at MAACs," Whartenby said. "He is playing very well right now and I'm hoping he will keep up his solid play."
In the current Golfstat rankings, Rider has played 21 rounds, averaging a team score of 322 with a low round this year of 303.
Also competing for the Broncs is freshman Cole Clark (Califon/Voorhees) who is averaging 79.61 for his 18 rounds this season. Clark's top finish was at the George Washington Invitational when he placed 19th.
Senior Chris Wolak (Issaquah, Wash./Hopkinton) is another Bronc who has done well in the warmer confines of Florida at MAACs with a 13th place finish as a sophomore in 2010. Wolak was 37th last season at MAACs.
Wolak has played 21 rounds this season, averaging 83.05 with his top finish at the Peacock Invitational, placing 32nd.
"Chris is coming off of a good score at the Peacock Invitational," Whartenby said. "This is the last tournament of his collegiate career and I hope he can make it a memorable one."
Freshman Luke Liddell (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) was 24th earlier this year at the CCSU Invitational and averaged 81.38 this season.
Junior Chris Foster (Pittsgrove/Schalick) will also compete for Rider this weekend and is averaging 86.33 in his 21 rounds this season.
In 2010, Rider was third (302-312-300) with a score of 914 and in 2009, the Broncs were sixth (941) after rounds of 304, 319 and 318.
In 2008, Rider was the runner-up with scores of 303-295-295, for a total of 893 and the Broncs were fifth in 2007 (921) with rounds of 306, 301 and 326.
The 2008 season saw Rider's best individual finish at MAACs by then senior Tyler Brewington (Orangeville, Pa./Benton) who shot an even par 72 on the final day for a three day total of 217, finishing in second place out of 50 golfers. Brewington finished third at the MAAC Championships as a junior after finishing fourth as a sophomore and fifth as a freshman.
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