College Golf
Rider Finishes 2nd of 9 at FDU Invitational
Wolgast Medalist
HILLSBOROUGH--The Broncs shot a season-best 294 on Tuesday for a two-day total of 598 to finish tied for first place of nine teams at the Fairleigh Dickinson University Invitational. The Broncs finished second to Monmouth on the tie-breaker criteria. “We did great,” said Rider head coach Bob Whartenby. “I'm really proud of the guys. It was really windy and we had our best round of the year.”
For Rider, sophomore Brent Wolgast (Bay City, Mich./Pendleton) shot a 71 on Tuesday on the par 72 Royce Brook Golf Course for a 36-hole total of 143 (72/71) and finished first among the 50 golfers.
“I'm pretty excited, but it would have been a lot better if we had won the tournament as a team,” Wolgast said. “It's kind of bitter-sweet, but it's cool to win. I knew I had a shot to win it if I played well, but I didn't really think about it. I was just plugging along. My putter was working good for me today. I made a lot of key par putts.”
The windy conditions didn't seem to matter to the Michigan native. “It was nice at first, then it got windy,” Wolgast said. “High school golf was pretty miserable in Michigan, so this wasn't bad.”
Also for Rider, senior Eric LeFante (Colts Neck) shot a 73 for a two-day total of 144 (71/73) to place second.
Sophomore Brian Accorsini (Hopkinton, Mass/Hopkinton) shot a 74 on Tuesday for a total of 154 (80/74) to finish 17th.
Sophomore Jordan Wycoff (Fort Washington, Pa./Saint Stephen's Episcopal) shot a 76 Tuesday for a total of 157 (81/76) to place 28th.
Junior Kevin Krecicki (Hamilton/Nottingham) added an 81 on Tuesday for a total of 166 (85/81) to place 39th.
The FDU Invitational brings the fall season to a close. “This was a good way to end the fall season,” Wolgast said.
The Broncs take to the links again in the spring. “All season we were just hanging around, shooting some good rounds, some bad rounds,” Whartenby said, “not really putting it together, but in the last two tournaments we put it together and two of our last three rounds were below 300. This puts a good taste in their mouth and they'll really want to get back in the spring.”
Team Scores: Monmouth 598, Rider 598, Rutgers 604, FDU 609, Saint Peter's 609, Wagner 636, Hofstra 637, Saint Francis-NY 669, Manhattan 687
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