HAMPDEN, MA – Rick van der Nat (Noordwijk, The Netherlands/Visser 't Hooft) holed a pair of eagles in an up-and-down round at the UConn Invitational at GreatHorse Monday and the Rider University men's golf team stands seventh of 14 teams following the tournament's second round. The Broncs shaved nine strokes off their first-round score with a 300 (+12).
The tournament's co-leader through the first round, van der Nat opened the round with an eagle on the Par 4, 400-yard first hole, but double bogeyed three of the next four holes and followed with a bogey to dip to six holes. Magic struck twice as van der Nat eagled the Par 4, 434-yard seventh hole and carded three pars and a birdie over his next four holes. After a bogey on the 12th brought him back to three over, he'd birdie his next three holes to get back to even par with three to play. However, he ended his round with a double bogey, bogey and triple bogey to card a 78 (+6) and fall into a tie for 9th at +5 for the tournament.
Zander Gibson (Concord, OH/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) carded the best score for the Broncs on the day with a one-over 73.
Jack Urban (Upper St. Clair, PA/Upper St. Clair) was a stroke back of Gibson with a 74 (+2), while
Louie Giovacchini (Windermere, FL/Windermere) was two back with a 75 (+3). van der Nat and
Connor Bekefi (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North) each shot 78 (+6) on the day.
QUOTES & NOTES
"Such an up and down round. We fought all day in brutal conditions. The closing holes are tough and we didn't play them well. Tons of really great shots and tons of really bad ones." –
Rider Head Coach Jason Barry
- The Broncs (609, +33, 7
th) are one of three MAAC programs playing in the tournament, joining Siena (610, +34, 8
th) and Iona (643, +67, 13
th).
- St. John's (595, +19) leads the team field, two strokes ahead of Rhode Island (597, +21) and four strokes ahead of LIU (599, +23). Seton Hall and UConn (601, +25) are tied for fourth, while Lafayette also sits ahead of the Broncs in sixth at 605 (+29).
- The co-leader with van der Nat after the first round, Rhode Island's Brandon Gillis shot four-under 68 Monday to open a six-stroke lead atop the individual leaderboard.
UP NEXT
The Broncs wrap up play at the UConn Invitational at GreatHorse with Tuesday's third and final round. Play commences at 8:30 a.m.
