SOUTH KENT, CT –
Jake Sollon (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) sits tied atop the individual leaderboard and the Rider University men's golf team obliterated the program record by 10 strokes with a second-round 278 to sit in second place (568, -8) heading into Tuesday's final round at the Hartford Hawks Invitational Monday. Sollon backed up an opening round, two-under 70 with a five-under 67 in the second round. Sollon is tied with Seton Hall's Wenliang Xie atop the individual leaderboard, while the Broncs (568) trail only UCF (564) on the team leaderboard.
The Broncs' 278 shaved 10 strokes off the previous program record, established two years ago at the Hartford Hawks Invitational.
Austin Devereux (Brielle, NJ/Manasquan) joined Sollon in finishing under par for the day at two under (
70-72-142), good for 12
th. After carding a three-over 75 in the opening round,
Nathan Bazant (Venetia, PA/Trinity [California (PA)]) shot a three-under 69 in the second round, shaving three strokes off his previous best score as a Bronc to finish the day at even par.
Playing his first tournament as a Bronc, freshman
Connor Bekefi (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North) finished the day at 145 (+1). He shot a three-over 75 in the opening round, before firing a two-under 70 in the afternoon round.
QUOTES & NOTES
"We played a great second round. We knew we had a round like this in us if we put it all together. Looking forward to the opportunity tomorrow." –
Rider Head Coach Jason Barry
- After shooting under or even par four times last season, the Broncs' 2018-19 stroke average leader, Sollon, already has four rounds under par in five rounds played this season.
- Devereux's 70 matches his low score as a Bronc, established at Monmouth as a freshman and repeated again in 2017-18 at the Wildcat Invitational.
- The Broncs' previous program record of 288 came on Sept. 19, 2017, at the Hartford Hawks Invitational.
- All four Broncs shot at or under par in the second round.
- Sollon shot the second-best individual-round score of the day at 67, behind only the 66 shot by Hartford's Ryan Tomaso in the opening round.
- Sollon now has a stroke average of 70.4 through five rounds this season.
- Rider is one of two MAAC schools competing, along with Fairfield (586, +10).
UP NEXT
The Broncs wrap up play at the Hartford Hawks Invitational Tuesday from Bulls Bridge Golf Club in South Kent, CT.
