Penn State takes some momentum into Big 10 Championship

   One of the strongest Penn State men’s teams that Greg Nye has had will tee off Friday in the Big 10 Championship at Victoria National Golf Course.

   The Nittany Lions tuned up for the Big 10 tourney with an impressive performance on their home course in winning last weekend’s Rutherford Intercollegiate at the Penn State Golf Club’s Blue Course.

   And they were led by their leading man, Charles Huntzinger, a freshman from Duluth, Ga. who fired a final round of 5-under 66 over the 7,202-yard, par-71 Blue Course layout to finish at 10-under 203 that was four shots clear of the field.

   Huntzinger bettered par in all three rounds, following up an opening round of 1-under 70 with a 4-under 67 in the afternoon of Saturday’s double round.

   Penn State was under par in each round as a team as well, opening with rounds of 5-under 279 and 1-under 283 in Saturday’s double round and finishing it off with a 3-under 281 for a 9-under 843 total. West Virginia finished second at 1-over 853, Xavier placed third at 9-over 861, Connecticut was fourth at 10-over 862 and Rutgers rounded out the top five at 12-over 864.

   JD Dornes, a senior who starred scholastically at Manheim Township, had steady rounds of 67, 71 and 70 to finish in a tie for fourth for Penn State. The other scorers for the Nittany Lions were Cole Miller, a sophomore who was a standout at Northwestern Lehigh, and Chris Houston, a senior from Gilford, N.H., both of whom finished tied for 15^th at 4-over 217, and Geoff Vantelas, a senior from Cromwell, Conn. who finished tied for 31^st at 10-over 223.

   That same five, Huntzinger, JD Dornes, Miller, Houston and Vantelas, will represent the Nittany Lions at the Big 10 Championship.

   Four other Nittany Lions competed as individuals in the Rutherford and a couple of them snuck into the top 15.

   Christian Elliott, a junior from Canada, finished tied for ninth at 1-over 214, including a sparkling 2-under 69 in the middle round, and JD Dornes’ little brother Ryan, who also had an outstanding scholastic career at Manheim Township, finished tied for 12^th at 2-over 215.

   Connor Raeman, a freshman from Canandaigua, N.Y., finished tied for 45^th at 226 and Evan Santa, a freshman from Edgewater, N.J., finished tied for 50^th at 228.

   Xavier’s Jose Montano, a sophomore from Bolivia, and West Virginia’s Alan Cooke, a junior from Parkersburg, W.Va., finished tied for second at 6-under 207 with Montano awarded the silver medal in a tiebreaker. Montano fired a 5-under 66 in the opening round while Cooke closed strongly with a final-round 67.

   Sharing fourth with Penn State’s JD Dornes at 5-under 208 was West Virginia’s Max Sear, a freshman from Canada who also had a fast finish with a 4-under 67 in the final round.

   Georgetown was also in the Rutherford Intercollegiate field, bouncing back from an opening-round 300 with rounds of 293 and 292 to finish in a tie for seventh at 885.

   The Hoyas were led by Harrison Rhoades, a freshman from Raleigh, N.C. who finished tied for ninth at 1-over 214. Rhoades carded a 3-under 68 in the middle round.

   Sophomore Cole Berman, the former Haverford School standout and reigning BMW Philadelphia Amateur champion, had rounds of 75, 69 and 73 to finish tied for 15^th at 4-over 217.