Drexel junior Connor Schmidt, a Peters Township product,
announced his intentions for the 2018-’19 college golf season last summer in
the final round of the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Amateur Championship at
Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown.
Schmidt fired a 5-under-par 30 on the back nine of the
classic A.W. Tillinghast design at Sunnehanna for a 65 that gave him a two-shot
victory.
A member of a Peters Township team that was the 2015 PIAA
Class AAA runnerup his senior year, Schmidt had been a solid addition to Ben
Feld’s lineup in his first two seasons at Drexel.
Last week, in the opener of the Drexel’s spring campaign,
Schmidt showed the same kind of form that made him a Pennsylvania Amateur
champion last summer when he captured the individual title in the Lonnie Barton
Invitational, hosted by Long Island-Brooklyn at the LPGA International Golf
Club in Daytona Beach, Fla. It was Schmidt’s first college tournament victory.
Schmidt fired a 3-under 69 in second and final round, which
was played March 5, to give him a 3-under 141 total over the 6,816-yard, par-72
LPGA International layout.
Schmidt had posted an even-par 72 in the opening round that
left him two shots behind Bethune-Cookman’s Jake Lane, a sophomore from Canada,
with a couple of other Bethune-Cookman players, Lucas Jonsson, a freshman from
Sweden, and Dante Davis, a senior from Brandon, Fla., a shot ahead of him.
But the final-round 69 sent Schmidt to the top of the
leaderboard. He was the only player in a big field of 20 teams to finish under
par for two rounds. Schmidt finished three shots ahead of yet another
Bethune-Cookman player, Christian Hovstadius, a junior from Sweden who added a
2-under 70 to his opening-round 74 to end up at even-par 144.
You might have figured out by now that the team title went
to Bethune-Cookman. All five players in the starting lineup for Wildcats, who
are No. 180 in the latest Golfstat
rankings, finished in the top 10 in the individual standings.
After opening with a 2-under 286, the only round under par
for the tournament, Bethune-Cookman added a 10-over 298 in the final round for
an 8-over 584 total that gave the Wildcats the title by 20 shots.
North Alabama had a pair of 14-over 302s to claim runnerup
honors with a 28-over 604 total. Longwood was another two shots behind North
Alabama in third place at 30-over 606 after adding a 306 to its opening-round
300.
It was another seven shots back to Wright State in fourth
place at 37-over 613 after it added a 312 to an opening-round 301.
Schmidt’s strong finish helped the Dragons card a 304 in the
second round, shaving seven shots off their opening-round 311 for a 39-over 615
total that left them in fifth place. Drexel is No. 177 in the latest Golfstat rankings.
The runnerup finish for Hovstadius led the way for
Bethune-Cookman. Jonsson added a 75 to his opening-round 71 to finish in a tie
for third at 2-over 146. Davis added a 5-over 77 to his opening-round 71 to finish
in a tie for fifth at 4-over 148.
Lane, who had grabbed the lead after the opening round with
his 2-under 70, posted a 79 in the final round to finish in the group tied for
seventh at 5-over 149.
Marcus Sundlof, a junior from Sweden, made it five Wildcats
in the top 10 as he landed among the group tied for 10th at 6-over 150.
Sundlof added a 76 to his opening-round 74.
Joining Bethune-Cookman’s Jonsson in the tie for third at
2-over 146 was Longwood’s Brandon Weaver, a junior from Purcellville, Va. who
carded a pair of 1-over 73s.
Joining Bethune-Cookman’s Davis in the tie for fifth at
4-over 148 was Fairleigh Dickinson’s Andrew Morris, a senior from St.
Augustine, Fla. who posted a pair of 2-over 74s.
Schmidt’s Drexel teammates were unable to solve the LPGA
International layout as well as he did.
Jeffrey Cunningham, a sophomore from West Palm Beach, Fla.,
was the next lowest Drexel finisher as he landed among the group tied for 41st
at 12-over 156. After opening with an 80, Cunningham improved by four shots
with a closing 76.
Junior Alex Butler, a member of St. Joseph’s Prep’s 2014
PIAA Class AAA championship team as a junior, and sophomore Stephen Cerbara,
the 2015 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at Holy Ghost Prep, both ended up
in the group tied for 64th at 16-over 160.
Butler added an 81 to his opening-round 79 while Cerbara,
after opening with an 82, carded a 78 in the second round.
Rounding out the Drexel lineup was Angelo Giantsopoulos, a
sophomore from Canada who ended up a shot behind Butler and Cerbara in the
group tied for 70th at 17-over 161. Giantsopoulos opened with an 80
and added an 81 in the second round.
Drexel’s goal for the season is clear. The Dragons would
need to win the Colonial Athletic Association Championship to get a bid to an
NCAA regional. With Schmidt leading the way with a third-place individual
finish last spring, Drexel finished five shots behind conference champion North
Carolina-Wilmington in third place.
This is a younger team, but there is some talent there. And
Schmidt is certainly off to a strong start to his spring.
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