Matt Davis was an integral piece on some Malvern Prep teams
that were always in the thick of the race for the Inter-Ac League crown, the
Friars dominating the league on their way to the 2015 crown when Davis was a
sophomore.
Davis joined Jim Wilkes’ Villanova program last fall and he
has struggled at times, although clearly Wilkes had faith in Davis because he
kept sending his freshman standout out there. That faith was rewarded Monday as
Davis battled gusty winds to share medalist honors with Drexel’s Jeffrey
Cunningham, a sophomore from West Palm Beach, Fla., in the Explorer
Invitational at LuLu Country Club in Glenside.
Davis’ effort also led the Wildcats to their first team
success of the wraparound 2018-’19 season as the Wildcats edged Drexel by four
shots.
Villanova, Drexel, two Temple teams and host La Salle had to
be having flashbacks to last fall’s City 6 Championship on a November Saturday
at Galloway National Golf Club at the Jersey Shore played in mid-40
temperatures with winds howling off the ocean. Davis shot 94 that day, probably
his worst competitive round since his early days as a junior golfer.
It wasn’t quite that cold Monday, but the winds were fierce
and gusty and, unlike the City 6 Championship, the Explorer Invitational was 36
holes, but clearly Davis had learned how to better cope with the tough
conditions.
Davis opened with a 1-over-par 72 over the 6,624-yard,
par-71 LuLu layout. Only La Salle’s Ron Fischang, a sophomore from McKinney,
Texas, and Davis’ teammate Mark Benevento, a redshirt junior from Ocean City,
N.J., did better, Fischang carding a 2-under 69 and Benevento posting a 1-under
70. Davis then added a 3-over 74 in the afternoon for a 4-over 146 total. It
was the first individual victory of Davis’ college career.
Cunningham carded a pair of 2-over 73s to share medalist
honors with Davis at 146. It was also Cunningham’s first collegiate victory.
Cunningham finished in a tie for fifth with a 78 in the City 6 Championship at
Galloway National, so he must be one of those guys that actually enjoys the
challenge of playing when the wind is blowing hard.
The solid starts by Davis and Benevento enabled Villanova to
grab the lead in the team standings with a 6-over 290. The Wildcats added a
17-over 301 in the afternoon for a 23-over 591 total.
Drexel, coming off a team win in last week’s Wildcat Spring
Invitational at White Manor Country Club, closed with a 10-over 294 in the
afternoon after opening with a 301, but couldn’t quite catch Villanova as the
Dragons settled for runnerup honors with a 27-over 595 total.
Temple, coming off a solid third-place finish in the
Princeton Invitational, was another four shots behind Drexel in third at
31-over 599. The Owls opened with a 297 and added a 302 in the afternoon.
Host La Salle opened with a 296 that put it in second place,
six shots behind Villanova, before closing with a 312 that left the Explorers
in fourth place at 40-over 608. Navy’s Blue team carded a pair of 306s to
finish fifth at 44-over 612.
Benevento added a 77 to his opening-round 70 to finish among
a trio of players tied for third at 5-over 147, a shot behind Davis and
Cunningham.
Connor Daly, Villanova’s veteran junior from Bronxville,
N.Y., got a share of ninth place as he posted solid rounds of 74 and 75 for a 7-over
149 total.
Another Villanova freshman, Danny Dougherty, a Tower Hill
product, has struggled at times in his first year of college golf. But he, too,
had a nice showing at LuLu, adding a 4-over 75 to his opening-round 76 to join
the group tied for 13th at 151.
Rounding out the young Villanova lineup was Reb Banas, a
sophomore from Winnetka, Ill. who opened with a solid 3-over 74 before
struggling to an afternoon 84 that left him among the group tied for 25th
at 158.
Villanova gets some time off before teeing it up in the Big
East Championship April 26 at the Callawassie Island Golf Club in Okatie, S.C.
Joining Villanova’s Benevento in the tie for third at 5-over
147 were a couple of Temple veterans, Trey Wren, a senior from Suffolk, Va.,
and senior Gary McCabe, a Collegeville resident who starred scholastically at
La Salle. Wren added a 2-over 73 to his opening-round 74 while McCabe was the
opposite, opening with a 2-over 73 before adding a 74.
A couple of Drexel sophomores, Stephen Cerbara, the 2015 PIAA
Class AAA champion as a senior at Holy Ghost Prep, and Angelo Giantsopoulos of
Canada were joined by La Salle’s Matt Werner, a freshman from West Linn, Ore.,
in a tie for sixth at 6-over 148. The two Dragons each added a 2-over 73 to an
opening-round 75 while Werner closed with a solid 1-over 72 after opening with
a 76.
Joining Villanova’s Daly in the tie for ninth at 7-over 149
was La Salle freshman Parker Wine, a former Unionville standout who added a 76
to his opening round of 2-over 73.
Drexel junior Connor Schmidt, who was coming off his second
individual title of the spring at last week’s Wildcat Spring Invitational at
White Manor, struggled a little at LuLu. A member of Peters Township’s 2015
PIAA Class AAA runnerup team, Schmidt added a 4-over 75 to his opening-round 78
to finish among the group tied for 17th at 153.
Rounding out the Drexel lineup was senior Mike Cook, a
former Conestoga standout who carded a pair of 79s to finish among the group
tied for 25th at 158.
Junior Alex Butler, a member of the 2014 PIAA Class AAA
championship team as a junior at St. Joseph’s Prep, competed for the Dragons as
an individual and landed in the group tied for 17th at 153 with his
teammate Schmidt. Butler opened with a 4-over 75 before adding a 78 in the
afternoon.
Head coach Ben Feld’s Dragons are headed for the Pinehurst
Resort in North Carolina where they will tee off in the opening round of the
Colonial Athletic Association Championship Friday on Pinehurst’s No. 8 Course.
Temple redshirt junior Erik Reisner, a two-time Central
League champion at Harriton, carded a pair of 76s to finish alone in 16th
place at 10-over 152.
Another Owl veteran, John Barone, a senior from Dunmore,
opened with a solid 3-over 74 before struggling to an 80 in the afternoon to
finish alone in 21st at 154. Barone was one of the four co-medalists
when he helped Temple survive the cold and wind at Galloway National to claim
the team title in the City 6 Championship last fall.
Rounding out the Temple lineup was freshman Conor McGrath,
an Academy of the New Church product who added a 79 to his opening-round 81 to
finish alone in 29th at 160.
Temple head coach Brian Quinn sent out a four-man White team
that finished seventh in the eight-team field with a 634 total.
Matt Kristick, a sophomore from Berlin, Md., led the White
team as he finished alone in 22nd place at 155 after adding an 80 to
his opening round of 4-over 75.
Senior Sam Soeth, who finished tied for fifth in the 2013
PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at Marple Newtown, was a shot behind
Kristick at 156 as he shaved four shots off an opening-round 80 with a 5-over
76 in the afternoon. Soeth joined Barone as one of the four individual
co-medalists in the City 6 Championship.
It will be interesting to see which five Quinn takes to The
American Championship, which tees off Easter Sunday at the Innisbrook Resort’s
Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Fla.
La Salle’s Fischang couldn’t maintain the momentum from his
morning 69 as he backed off with an 82 in the afternoon to finish among the
group tied for 13th at 9-over 151.
Dragon Theam, a freshman from Jacksonville, Fla., landed in
the group tied for 30th at 162 after adding an 84 to his
opening-round 78. Sophomore David Kim, who starred scholastically at Upper
Dublin, finished in the group tied for 35th at 165 as he added an 82
to his opening-round 83.
Zaffar Sikkander, a sophomore from Sri Lanka, competed as an
individual for the Explorers and finished alone in 41st at 174,
adding an 86 to his opening-round 88.
La Salle will tee it up in the Navy Spring Invitational,
which gets under way Friday. That will be the Explorers’ final tuneup for the
Atlantic 10 Championship, which tees of April 26 at the Grand Cypress Resort in
Orlando, Fla.
Navy also had two teams in the Explorer Invitational and
senior captain Paul Mauer, who was a teammate of Drexel’s Butler on St.
Joseph’s Prep’s 2014 state championship team, was the No. 1 player on the
Middies’ Gold team at LuLu. Mauer, an occasional Stonewall looper, finished in
the group tied for 17th at 153 after adding a 79 to his opening
round of 3-over 74.
Navy’s Gold team finished sixth with a 615 total.
After playing host to this weekend’s Navy Spring
Invitational at the Naval Academy Golf Course in Annapolis, Md., the Middies
will defend their Patriot League crown beginning April 27 at Seven Oaks Golf
Course in Hamilton, N.Y.
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