Schmidt heats up with 63 at White Manor to help Drexel take lead in Wildcat Spring Invitational

   On possibly the warmest day in the history of the Wildcat Spring Invitational, the game of Drexel junior Connor Schmidt, the reigning Pennsylvania Amateur champion, heated up right along with the temperature.

   Schmidt, a member of the 2015 PIAA Class AAA runnerup Peters Township team, ripped off nine birdies against one bogey in a scintillating 8-under-par 63 at White Manor Country Club in Willistown Township Monday to tie the Dragons’ single-round team record and propel them to the top of the team leaderboard.

   Schmidt’s score helped Drexel post a 12-under 272 total over the 6,733-yard, par-71 White Manor layout to grab a two-shot lead over Akron, which fired a pretty strong 10-under 274 total of its own.

   Lafayette and Colgate were another 12 shots behind Akron in third place at 2-over 286. Drexel’s Colonial Athletic Association rival Delaware was a shot behind the Leopards and the Raiders in fifth place at 3-over 287. Rhode Island was two more shots behind Delaware in sixth place at 5-over 289.

   La Salle carded a 9-over 293, giving the Explorers a share of ninth place along Lehigh. Host Villanova landed in a tie for 11^th in the 20-team field with Bucknell at 10-over 294. The 36-hole Wildcat Spring Invitational concludes Tuesday.

    Schmidt earned his first career collegiate victory earlier this spring when he shot 3-under for 36 holes over the LPGA International Golf Club in Daytona Beach, Fla. to win the individual title in the Lonnie Barton Invitational.

   He really got it going Monday as he twice made back-to-back birdies on the first and second holes and again on the sixth and seventh holes to make the turn at 4-under 31. Schmidt birdied the 11^th and 13^th holes to get it to 6-under before dropping a shot at the tough par-3 14^th. No problem. He promptly birdied the next three holes, 15, 16 and 17, to finish at 8-under.

   Backing up Schmidt for Drexel was sophomore Stephen Cerbara, the 2015 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at Holy Ghost Prep. Cerbara fired a 4-under 67 to land in a tie for third in the individual chase.

   Drexel was coming off a solid fourth-place finish in a road trip to Chambers Bay, site of the 2015 U.S. Open, for the Redhawk Invitational last week. Cerbara led the way for the Dragons in University Place, Wash. as he finished in a tie for 15^th.

   Angelo Giantsopoulos, a sophomore from Canada, carded a 1-under 70 that left him alone in 11^th place. Senior Mike Cook, who starred scholastically at Conestoga, and Jeffrey Cunningham, a sophomore from West Palm Beach, Fla., rounded out the Drexel lineup as each ended up in the group tied for 17^th place by carding a solid 1-over 72.

   Akron’s Beau Bayerl, a redshirt freshman from Ashland, Ohio, fired a 5-under 66 and is alone in second place, three shots behind the frontrunning Schmidt.

   He was one of three Zips in the top five as teammates Elliott Grayson, a senior from Shelby, N.C., and Fabian Sunden, a sophomore from Sweden, were in the trio tied for fifth place at 3-under 68.

   Akron is coached by David Trainor, who is in his eighth season at the helm. Pretty sure he’s an Archbishop Carroll graduate and I really should know for sure since his mother is my cousin.

   Joining Drexel’s Cerbara in the tie for third at 4-under 67 was Lafayette’s Will Halamandaris, a junior from Crownsville, Md.

   Joining the Akron pair in the trio tied for fifth place at 3-under 68 was Delaware’s Matt Pulgini, a freshman from Middletown, Del.

   Rhode Island’s Dawson Jones, a senior from Howell, N.J., Colgate’s Ryan Skae, a junior from Old Tappan, N.J., and Lehigh’s Owen Quinn, a junior from Holden, Mass., finished in a tie for eighth place, each posting a 2-under 69.

   Pulgini and the Blue Hens were coming off a 12^th-place finish in last week’s Wofford Invitational in Spartanburg, S.C. Delaware tuned up for the Wildcat Spring Invitational with a practice round at Stonewall’s Old Course Thursday.

   Roberto Nieves, a freshman from Miami, Fla., senior Nick Vecellio, a Northwestern Lehigh product, and junior Jack Melville, who was one of the top players in District One at Upper Dublin, were the other three counters for the Blue Hens as each carded a 2-over 73 to join a large group tied for 30^th.

   Rounding out the Delaware lineup was junior R.J. Wren, a former Twin Valley standout who joined the group tied for 99^th place with an 81. Wren didn’t need directions to get to Stonewall last week as he is an occasional looper at the ’Wall. Wren finished tied for fourth and helped Delaware to a runnerup finish in the Wildcat Fall Invitational, which was a 54-hole event also played at White Manor last September.

   La Salle was led by Matt Werner, a freshman from West Linn, Ore. who joined the large group tied for 17^th with a 1-over 72. A couple of La Salle freshmen, Dragon Theam of Jacksonville, Fla. and Parker Wine, a former Unionville standout, landed in the large group tied for 30^th at 2-over 73.

   Sophomore David Kim, who starred scholastically at Upper Dublin, and Ron Fischang, a sophomore from McKinney, Texas, both ended up in the group tied for 59^th as each posted a 4-over 75.

   Villanova was led by Connor Daly, a junior from Bronxville, N.Y. and a leader on head coach Jim Wilkes’ young team. Daly joined the group tied for 17^th with a 1-over 72. Reb Banas, a sophomore from Winnetka, Ill., was another shot behind Daly in the big group tied for 30^th at 2-over 73.

   Freshman Matt Davis, one of the top players in the Inter-Ac League at Malvern Prep, posted a solid 3-over 74 to join the group tied for 47^th.

   Freshman Danny Dougherty, a Tower Hill product, and Mark Benevento, a redshirt junior from Ocean City, N.J., rounded out the Villanova lineup as they both landed in the group tied for 59^th place at 4-over 75.

   Jack O’Hara, a freshman from Loudonville, N.Y., teed it up for Villanova as an individual and carded an 82.

   Three familiar names from the junior ranks in the recent past all landed in the group tied for 30^th at 2-over 73, including the Lafayette pair of Cole Berger, a sophomore out of Westtown School, and Ryan Tall, a freshman who starred scholastically at Conestoga, and Bucknell junior Peter Bradbeer, a Friend’s Central product.

   Berger was a member at White Manor and may still be. Tall captured the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ Championship last summer at Blue Bell Country Club. Bradbeer has a GAP major on his resume as he won the 2017 Patterson Cup at Wilmington Country Club’s South Course.

   Another recent junior standout, Monmouth sophomore Ron Robinson, a North Penn product, joined the group tied for 59^th with a 4-over 75. Robinson won a GAP junior major when he claimed a victory in the 2016 Jock MacKenzie Memorial. Monmouth is tied for 17^th in the team standings after posting a 14-over 298.

   Fordham senior Josh Mandarang, a Downingtown East product, carded a 5-over 76 and is in the group tied for 76^th. The Rams are alone in 13^th in the team standings after carding an 11-over 295.