In keeping with his decision to play some tougher
competition, particularly during the fall portion of the schedule, Villanova
coach James Wilkes sent his Wildcats out to open their 2017-2018 schedule over
the Labor Day weekend in the Turning Stone Tiger Invitational in Verona, N.Y.
While Missouri proved to be something of an inhospitable
host, winning the team title by a ridiculous 50 shots, the Wildcats finished
ninth of the 15 teams in the field with a 935 total. Apparently, Sunday’s
morning round featured some difficult conditions and Villanova, and just about
every other team with the exception of Missouri, struggled, the Wildcats posting a 322 total.
The Wildcats added a 304 Sunday afternoon before winding up
on Labor Day with a 309.
Villanova was led by Andy Butler, a senior who was a
scholastic standout at Manheim Township. Butler seems to be at his best on the
tougher courses and he finished tied for 12th with a 9-over-par
total of 225 over the challenging 6,882-yard, par-71 Kaluhyat Course at the
Turning Stone Resort. He opened with a 79 and added a pair of 1-over 73s.
Connor Daly, a sophomore from Bronxville, N.Y. coming off a
solid freshman season, finished tied for 28th at 232, bouncing back
from an opening-round 81 with a 2-over 74 Sunday afternoon and winding up with
a 77 Monday.
Matt Barnes, a freshman from Bethesda, Md., had a solid
collegiate debut, finishing tied for 52nd at 242. Zach Egermayer, a
senior from Glen Rock, N.Y., bounced
back impressively from a disastrous opening-round 96 with rounds of 78 and 76
to finish 69th at 250. Will
Byrne, a senior from McLean, Va., finished tied for 70th at 252.
Missouri, out of powerful Southeast Conference, rolled to
the team title with its top five all finishing among the top five in the
individual standings. The Tigers matched par with an opening-round 288 while no
other team came anywhere near breaking 300 in the difficult conditions.
Missouri then added a 12-under 276 in the second round and a final round of
8-under 280 for a 20-under 844 total that gave it a sixth straight team crown
in the Tiger Invitational.
North Carolina-Wilmington was the best of the rest with a
30-over 894 total after finishing up with a 2-over 290. Boston College, out of
the Atlantic Coast Conference, finished third at 44-over 908 after a final-round
297, St. Peter’s was fourth at 915 after a final-round 299 and Cleveland State
was fifth at 923 after a final-round
298.
Missouri’s Hayden Buckley, a senior from Beldon, Miss.,
outdueled teammate Rory Franssen, a sophomore from Scotland, for the team
title. Buckley’s 5-under 67 in the second round was one shot better than
Franssen’s 4-under 68 and that proved to be the difference as they had matching
even-par 72s in the opening round and 2-under 70s in the final round.
Buckley finished at 7-under 209 while Franssen was a shot
behind him at 6-under 210.
The only non-Mizzou player in the top five was
UNC-Wilmington’s Blake McShea, a sophomore from Zebulon, N.C. who fired a
final-round 68 to get a share of third with the Tigers’ Matt Echelmeier, a junior
from Columbia, Mo., at 1-under 215. Echelmeier had a final-round 71.
Missouri’s Jamie Stewart, a freshman from Scotland, seemed
to relish the rough weather Sunday morning as he was the only player in the
field under par in the opening round with a 2-under 70. He added rounds of 72
and 74 to finish tied for fifth with teammate Jack Parker, a freshman from
Columbia, Mo., at even-par 216. Parker finished strong in his collegiate debut,
firing a final round of 3-under 69.
Bucknell finished three shots behind Villanova in 10th
at 938. Sophomore Peter Bradbeer, fresh off his victory in the Patterson Cup, the
Golf Association of Philadelphia’s final major of the season, at Wilmington
Country Club’s South Course, finished tied for 41st at 238.
Bradbeer, a Merion Golf Club member and Friends’ Central School product, had
rounds of 84, 76 and 78.
The Bison were led by J.P. Rafferty, a junior from
Greenwich, Conn. whose second round of 1-under 71 helped him finish 26th
at 230.
Chris Tanabe, the PIAA Class AA champion at Quaker Valley as
a senior last fall, made his collegiate debut for Bucknell, finishing tied for
66th at 247. Tanabe finished strong with a 4-over 76 in Monday’s final round.
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