Getting a 1-2 finish from Angus Flanagan, a junior from
England, and junior Evan Long, who finished third in the 2016 PIAA Class AA
Championship as a senior at Laurel, Minnesota dominated The Macdonald Cup at
The Course at Yale in New Haven, Conn. over the weekend.
The Macdonald Cup honors the memory of legendary golf course
architect Charles Blair (C.B.) Macdonald, a true pioneer of the game in this
country whose classic designs include The Course at Yale.
Flanagan has shown an affinity for the classic American
designs as he was the co-champion when last spring’s Big Ten Championship was
staged at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course, an A.W. Tillinghast
masterpiece.
Flanagan was at his best at The Course at Yale, opening with
rounds of 3-under-par 67 and 1-under 69 in Saturday’s double round over the
6,810-yard, par-70 layout. He added a 2-under 68 in Sunday’s final round for a
6-under 204 total that gave him a three-shot victory over his teammate Long.
Long was right with Flanagan through Saturday’s double
round, adding a 67 to his opening-round 69 before closing with a 1-over 71 that
left him alone in second place at 3-under 207.
The Gophers built a big lead with rounds of 6-under 274 and
5-under 275 in Saturday’s double round. They closed with a 1-over 281 Sunday
for a 10-under 830 that was 24 shots clear of runnerup Princeton. It was
Minnesota’s first team title since it won the Big Ten Championship in 2014.
The reigning Ivy League champion Tigers fired a 1-under 279
in Saturday afternoon’s second round after opening with a 289. They finished up
with a 6-over 286 for a 14-over 854 total that left them in second place and
ahead of several of their Ivy rivals that teed it up in the 12-team field.
Yale was right with Princeton after Saturday’s double round
as the Bulldogs opened with a 1-over 281 before adding a 7-over 287 in the
afternoon. Yale closed with a 12-over 292 to take third place at 20-over 860.
Bucknell was another six shots behind Yale in fourth place
at 26-over 866, the Bison finishing up with a 13-over 293. Bucknell opened with
a 291 before posting a solid 2-over 282 in Saturday afternoon’s second round.
Penn struggled in the final round with a 298 to fall back
into fifth place at 29-over 969, three shots behind Bucknell. The Quakers
opened with solid rounds of 282 and 289 in Saturday’s double round.
It was the second tournament of the season for La Salle and
the Explorers finished in 10th place at 66-over 908. La Salle
bounced back from an opening-round 306 with a 297 in Saturday’s second round
before finishing up with a 302 in Sunday’s final round.
La Salle opened its season by finishing 13th of
14 teams in The Doc Gimler, hosted by St. John’s at Bethpage State Park’s Red
Course on Long Island the weekend of Sept. 14 and 15.
Minnesota had two more players finish among the top seven in
the individual standings in the Macdonald Cup. Connor Glynn, a freshman from
Waconia, Minn., ended up in a tie for fifth place at 1-over 211 and Thomas
Longbella, a senior from Chippewa Falls, Wis., finished alone in seventh place
at 2-over 212.
Glynn contributed a 1-under 69 and an even-par 70 to the
Gophers’ strong showing in Saturday’s double round before closing with a 2-over
72. After opening with a 71, Longbella fired a 1-under 69 in Saturday
afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 2-over 72.
Noah Rasinski, a senior from Credit River, Minn., also
contributed a 1-under 69 to Minnesota’s opening round. He backed off with a 77
in the second round before closing with a 1-over 71 to finish among the group
tied for 13th place at 7-over 217.
The Macdonald Cup allowed for six-man teams with the top
four counting as usual. Rounding out the Minnesota lineup was Harrison Arnold,
a freshman from England who closed with a 1-over 71 to land among the group
tied for 25th place at 220.
Princeton’s Guy Waterhouse, a junior from South Africa,
finished two shots behind Minnesota’s Long in third place in the individual
standings at 1-under 209. Waterhouse had the low round of the weekend, a
sizzling 4-under 66 in Saturday afternoon’s second round that left him just a
shot behind Minnesota’s Flanagan and Long in the individual chase heading into
Sunday’s final round.
Waterhouse had opened with a 1-over 71. A final round of
2-over 72 still left him as one of just three players to finish under par for
three rounds over The Course at Yale.
Penn’s Mitchell Cornell, a junior from Incline Village, Nev.,
finished alone in fourth place at even-par 210. After opening with a 2-under
68, Cornell carded a pair of 1-over 71s.
Joining Minnesota’s Glynn in the tie for fifth at 2-over 212
was Yale’s Teddy Zinsner, a junior from Alexandria, Va. who opened with a
1-under 69 and matched par in Saturday afternoon’s second round before closing
with a 2-over 72.
Zinsner and Penn’s Cornell are two of the Ivy’s top
returnees as they were in a group of three players who finished tied for third
in last spring’s Ivy League Championship at Hidden Creek Golf Club at the
Jersey Shore.
Colgate’s Alejo Soto, a senior from Newton, Mass., finished
alone in eighth place, two shots behind Minnesota’s Longbella at 4-over 214.
Soto fired a 2-under 68 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before closing
with a 74.
Penn’s Mark Haghani, a sophomore from Wilson, Wyo., and
Princeton’s Jake Meyer, a junior from Scotch Plains, N.J., rounded out the top
10 as they finished in a tie for ninth place at 5-over 215.
Haghani was just two shots out of the lead in the individual
standings after adding a 2-under 68 to his opening-round 70. But he fell back
with a closing 77. Meyer’s final round of even-par 70 was his best of the
weekend.
Penn’s next highest finisher after the top-10 showings by
Cornell and Haghani was Carter Prince, a sophomore from Centerport, N.Y. who
landed in the group tied for 34th at 223. Prince contributed an
even-par 70 to the Quakers’ solid opening round before struggling to rounds of
77 and 76.
Anthony Basilio, a freshman from Knoxville, Tenn., finished
alone in 51st place at 229, struggling to a final-round 82 after
solid rounds of 74 and 73 in Saturday’s double round. Eric Ganshaw, a senior
from Greenwich, Conn., bounced back from an 84 in Saturday afternoon’s second
round with a counting 4-over 74 in the final round as he ended up in the group
tied for 61st place at 236.
Rounding out the Penn lineup was Caleb Blackburn, a
sophomore from Colorado Springs, Colo. who ended up in the group tied for 64th
place at 238. Blackburn opened with a solid 4-over 74 before struggling to
rounds of 84 and 80.
La Salle was led by junior David Kim, who starred
scholastically at Upper Dublin. Kim opened with a 1-over 71 and added a 75
before closing with a 73 to land in the group tied for 22nd place at
9-over 219.
Ron Fischang, a junior from McKinney, Texas, closed with his
best round of the weekend, a 3-over 73, to finish among the group tied for 40th
place at 225. Sophomore Parker Wine, a scholastic standout at Unionville,
finished among the group tied for 53rd place at 234. His best round
of the weekend was a 3-over 73 in Saturday afternoon’s second round.
Matt Werner, a sophomore from West Linn, Ore., also
contributed a 3-over 73 to the Explorers’ best team round Saturday afternoon as
he finished alone in 57th place at 234.
A couple of La Salle’s top freshmen, Karsen Rush, a
Chambersburg product, and Nikita Romanov, a scholastic standout at Mount
Pleasant in Delaware, rounded out the lineup for the Explorers at The Course at
Yale.
Rush added a 76 to his opening round 79 in Saturday’s double
round before closing with an 80 that left him in the group tied for 58th
place at 235. Romanov sandwiched a 77 in Saturday afternoon’s second round with
a pair of 80s. Rush and Romanov had made their college debuts at The Doc
Gimler.
Bucknell got a strong showing from senior Peter Bradbeer, a
Friend’s Central product who was the winner of the 2017 Patterson Cup, a Golf
Association of Philadelphia major championship. Bradbeer added a pair of 2-over
72s to his opening-round 75 to finish in the group tied for 22nd place
at 9-over 219.
Junior Chris Tanabe, the 2016 PIAA Class AA champion as a
senior at Quaker Valley, started strong for the Bison with an even-par 70, but
struggled with rounds of 75 and 80 to land in the group tied for 44th
place at 226. Tanabe, winner of the Pennsylvania Amateur at Aronimink Golf Club
this summer, was coming off an individual win in the Dartmouth Invitational.
Brown, which finished in 12th place with an
83-over 923 total, was led by freshman Luca Jezzeny, a Central Bucks West
product who was one of the top players in District One a year ago. Jezzeny lost
in a playoff to Central Bucks East’s Patrick Sheehan in the District One Class
AAA Championship and finished eighth in the PIAA Class AAA Championship.
Jezzeny ended up in the group tied for 11th at
6-over 216 as he opened with a 2-over 72 and matched par in Saturday’s second
round with a 70 before closing with a 74.
Sophomore Cole Kemmerer, who helped Episcopal Academy
capture the 2016 Inter-Ac League crown as a junior, finished in the group tied
for 58th at 235 for the Bears. After rounds of 76 and 77 in
Saturday’s double round, Kemmerer struggled to an 82 in Sunday’s final round.
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