It was a solid showing for Penn Charter product Brian
Isztwan in his collegiate debut for Harvard as he led the Crimson to a 10th-place
finish in The Doc Gimmler, hosted by St. John’s at Bethpage State Park’s Red
Course in Farmingdale, N.Y. on Long Island.
Isztwan, the top player in the Inter-Ac League in each of
his last two seasons with the Quakers, matched par with a 70 over the
7,042-yard, par-70 Bethpage Red layout Saturday afternoon, the second of two
rounds played on the first day of the tournament.
Isztwan had opened with a 74 Saturday morning and finished
up with a 3-over 73 Sunday for a 7-over 217 total that left him in the group
tied for 30th.
After struggling to an opening round of 301, Harvard
improved by 16 shots with a 5-over 285 Saturday afternoon before finishing up
with a 288 total for a 34-over 874 score for the weekend.
One of Isztwan’s Inter-Ac rivals, former Malvern Prep
standout Matt Davis, was also in the field at The Doc Gimmler, teeing it up as
a freshman on Jim Wilkes’ Villanova team. Davis struggled a little in
Saturday’s double round with scores of 75 and 77 before finishing up with a
3-over 73 that left him among the group tied for 62nd at 225.
Unlike Isztwan, though, it was not Davis’ collegiate debut
as the Wildcats opened their season over the Labor Day weekend, finishing 16th
of 18 teams in the Turning Stone Invitational in Verona, N.Y.
A young Villanova team finished 12th in the
14-team field in The Doc Gimmler, posting its best score of the weekend, a
9-over 289, in Sunday’s final round for an 878 total. The Wildcats opened with
rounds of 297 and 292 in Saturday’s double round.
The Atlantic 10’s Rhode Island was right around par all
weekend in claiming the team title with a 1-over 841 total. The Rams sandwiched
a 1-under 279 in Saturday’s second round with a pair of 1-over 281s.
Reigning Ivy League champion Yale, led by individual
champion James Nicholas, Connecticut, out of the ACC, and Johnson & Wales,
an NAIA school from Miami, shared second place at 4-over 284, three shots
behind Rhode Island.
Yale started slowly with a 10-over 290 before breaking par
with rounds of 276 and 278. UConn opened with a 283, fired a 1-under 279
Saturday afternoon and finished up with a 2-over 282. Johnson & Wales
matched the best team round of the tournament, an 8-under 272 in the opening
round, before backing off with a 292 Saturday afternoon and finishing up with a
solid even-par 280.
Hartford and Loyola of Maryland shared fifth place, each
carding a 9-over 849. Hartford finished strong, matching that Johnson &
Wales opening round with an 8-under 272 in Sunday’s final round, and Loyola of
Maryland closed with a 1-under 279 Sunday.
Patriot League champion Navy saved its best for last, a
2-under 278 in Sunday’s final round, as the Midshipmen finished alone in
seventh at 15-over 855.
Rhode Island was led by Dawson Jones, a senior from Howell,
N.J. who finished alone in third place in the individual standings with three
rounds in the 60s, a pair of 2-under 68s Saturday and a 1-under 69 Sunday, for
a 5-under 205 total.
Backing up Jones for the Rams was James Short, a redshirt
junior from Marlborough, Mass. who fired a 3-under 67 in Sunday’s final round
to end up in the group tied for 11th at 1-over 211.
Brody King, a redshirt senior from Tulsa, Okla. and the
runnerup in the A-10 Championship last spring, finished up with a final-round
71 to land in the group tied for 18th at 3-over 213. Chris
Francoeur, a sophomore from Amesbury, Mass., broke par with a 1-under 69 in
Saturday afternoon’s second round on his way to a 7-over 217 total that left
him in the group tied for 30th.
Rounding out the Rhode Island lineup was Austin Fox, a
freshman from Delmar, N.Y. who finished up with a 4-over 74 for a 220 total
that left him in the group tied for 49th.
Nicholas, the co-champion in the Ivy League Championship
played in challenging conditions at Stonewall’s Old Course in the spring, fired
a 4-under 66 in Sunday’s final round to capture the individual title at 7-under
203. Nicholas, a senior from Scarsdale, N.Y., matched par in the opening round
with a 70 and added a 3-under 67 in Saturday afternoon’s second round.
St. John’s Gerald Mackedon,a junior from Port Jefferson,
N.Y., earned runnerup honors at 6-under 204 after finishing up with a dazzling 6-under
64 in Sunday’s final round.
Following Rhode Island’s Jones in third was Yale’s Teddy
Zinser, a sophomore from Alexandria, Va. who was competing as an individual.
Zinsner, who finished tied for fifth in the Ivy Championship at Stonewall, took
fourth in The Doc Gimmler, finishing up with a 2-under 68 that gave him a
3-under 207 and likely earned himself consideration for the starting five for
Yale in its next start.
Connectictut’s Drake Hull, a redshirt junior from Rutland,
Vt., and Johnson & Wales’ Tim Border, a junior from Walpole, Mass., shared
fifth place at 2-under 208. Hall sandwiched a 2-under 68 with a pair of
even-par 70s while Border held the lead after an opening-round 66 before adding
a 73 Saturday afternoon and finishing up with a 1-under 69.
Backing up Isztwan for Harvard was Rij Patel, a junior from
Hunt Valley, Md. who finished a shot behind Isztwan in a tie for 36th
at 8-over 218. Patel matched the best Harvard round of the weekend with his 1-under
69 in Saturday afternoon’s second round.
Aurian Capart, a senior from Belgium, recovered from an
opening-round 80 to finish tied for 41st at 9-over 219. Capart
matched par Saturday afternoon with a 70 and then matched Patel for co-low
round of the weekend for the Crimson by finishing up with a 1-under 69.
Peter George, a sophomore from Naples, Fla., was another
shot behind Capart in the group tied for 49th at 220. George
sandwiched a 76 with a pair of 2-over 72s.
Harvard’s team effort was hamstrung a little in that the
Crimson didn’t have a fifth man. Ryan Rhee, a junior from Fullerton, Calif.,
was in the lineup, but must have suffered an untimely injury or illness that
sidelined him for the weekend.
Connor Daly, a junior from Bronxville, N.Y., led the way for
Villanova, finishing in the group tied for 30th at 7-over 217. Daly
is the captain of a youthful group of Wildcats. After opening with a 75, Daly
posted a couple of solid 1-over 71s.
Reb Banas, a sophomore from Winnetka, Ill. who saw a lot of
action as a freshman last season, finished tied for 56th at 223. Banas
struggled in an opening-round 80, but bounced back with rounds of 72 and 71.
Joining Davis in the group tied for 62nd at 225
for the Wildcats was Mark Benevento, a redshirt senior from Ocean City, N.J.
who had rounds of 75, 74 and 76. Benevento transferred to Villanova from the
Delaware program.
Another freshman, Tower Hill product Danny Dougherty, teed
it up as individual for Villanova in The Doc Gimmler and finished alone in 76th.
Dougherty opened with a 75 before struggling to an 82 in Saturday’s second
round. He bounced back with a 76 in the final round.
Navy is captained this year by senior Paul Mauer, a former
St. Joseph’s Prep standout and an occasional Stonewall looper. Mauer finished alone
in 66th at 226 after sandwiching a 76 with a pair of 75s.
Mauer had a couple of nice showings this summer in the
Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Amateur Championship at Sunnehanna Golf Club in
Johnstown and in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Patterson Cup at Gulph
Mills Golf Club.
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