LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL –
Andrew Forjan (York, PA/York Catholic) and
Jake Sollon (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) each shot a one-under 71 Thursday to lead the Rider University men's golf team in the opening round of the MAAC Men's Golf Championships at Disney's Magnolia Golf Course. The Broncs' 293 on the day positions them in third place, while Forjan and Sollon are tied for third individually, three strokes back of the leader, Iona's Olsin Deveruex (68, -4).
In the team scoring, Iona (289) and Saint Peter's (293) sit atop the leaderboard, while the Broncs are five strokes ahead of fourth-placed Canisius (298). The Broncs' 293 is their best round ever at the MAAC Championships, matching the score they posted in the third round in 2016 and the first round in 2005. It also matches the best score of any team over the last two years (Siena, 2018 1
st Round).
Sollon birdied three of his first 10 holes and stood at three-under. He bogeyed the 11
th and 18
th holes to card a one-under 71. Forjan's round got off to an up-and-down start with bogeys on the first and third holes sandwiched around a birdie on the second. He settled down to birdie the ninth, 14
th and 18
th holes, while only carding a bogey on the 17
th, finishing at a one-under 71.
Austin Devereux (Brielle, NJ/Manasquan) also played well for the Broncs, carding a one-over 73, good for a tie for 10
th. After bogeying three of the first 10 holes and having one birdie to his credit in that time, he settled down with the final 10 holes at or under par, including a birdie on the Par 5 10
th hole.
Griffin Smith (Holland, PA/Council Rock South) and
Nathan Bazant (Venetia, PA/Trinity [California (PA)]) rounded out the Broncs' scores with 78's.
NOTES
- The Broncs posted the best score of the round on the Par 4's at +9, good for an average of 4.18.
- Rider was also second in the Par 3's at +3.
- The Broncs only made up one stroke on the Par 5's, the sixth-best score of the round. Conversely, Iona and Saint Peter's, the two teams ahead of Broncs, posted a -6 and -5 on the Par 5's, while Siena was -10.
- Forjan had a team-best four birdies on the round, while Sollon had three.
- The round represented Rider's 11
th team score of less than 300 on the year.
- Rider was one stroke off of its best opening-round score of the year, behind the 292 it carded at both the Hartford Hawks Invitational and the Princeton Invitational.
UP NEXT
The Broncs return to action tomorrow for the second of three rounds in the MAAC Championships. Bazant will tee off at 8:30 a.m., followed in nine-minute increments by Smith (8:39), Devereux (8:48), Forjan (8:57) and Sollon (9:06).
