Victory tasted good to Villanova when it ended a four-year tournament win drought by taking the team title in the Golden Horseshoe Intercollegiate in Williamsburg, Va. a couple of weeks ago.
It tasted so good, Villanova wanted more and it got another taste of victory as the host team of its Wildcat Spring Invitational, which wrapped up Tuesday at LuLu Country Club, the Donald Ross design in Glenside, Montgomery County.
Behind individual champion Peter Weaver, a junior from Frontenac, Mo., Villanova captured the team crown in the Wildcat Spring Invitational by two shots over City 6 rival La Salle. According to the Villanova website, it is the first back-to-back tournament victories in the program’s history.
The big 15-team field opened by playing 27 holes Monday before finishing up with nine holes Tuesday. The mornings were chilly, but compared with some of the difficult conditions that have faced the Wildcat Spring Invitational in its history, the weather was glorious.
Villanova, out of the Big East Conference, had taken a one-shot lead over La Salle, an Atlantic 10 entry, at the end of Monday’s round-and-a-half with a 1-under 427 total.
Villanova had opened with a 2-under-par 282 over the 6,484-yard, par-71 LuLu layout and its final 18 holes over two days added up to 2-over 286 for an even-par 568 total.
La Salle opened with the best team round of the tournament, a sparkling 7-under 277. The Explorers ended up with a 9-over 293 in the second round that left them two shots behind Villanova with a 2-over 570 total.
Weaver had opened with a solid 3-under 68 and shared the individual lead with La Salle’s Anthony Garcia, a freshman from Miami, Fla., at the end of 27 holes Monday, each sitting at 5-under. Garcia had opened with a sizzling 6-under 65.
But Weaver came out firing for his final nine holes Tuesday as made an eagle on LuLu’s par-5 10th hole and had back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14. He stumbled briefly with a bogey at the 16th hole, but got that shot right back with a birdie at 17 to complete a 6-under 65 of his own for a 9-under 133 total that gave him his third career individual victory.
Garcia cooled off in the second round with a 3-over 74, but his 3-under 139 total was still good enough to give him a share of second place in the individual chase with Lehigh senior David Hurly, a Newtown Square resident and a standout on some seriously talented Haverford School teams. Garcia and Hurly finished six shots behind Weaver.
Hurly, winner of the individual crown in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) Championship at White Manor Country Club as a junior with the Fords in 2018, has been playing some solid golf all spring. He added a 2-under 69 in the second round to his opening round of 1-under 70 to get a share of runnerup honors with Garcia at 3-under.
Hurly’s strong showing led Lehigh, a Patriot League representative, to a third-place finish, three shots behind La Salle with a 5-over 573 total. After opening with a 6-over 290, the Mountain Hawks had the best team round of the field in the second round, a 1-under 283.
Bucknell, Lehigh’s Patriot League rival, finished six shots behind the Mountain Hawks in fourth place with an 11-over 579 total as the Bison added an 8-over 292 in the second round to their opening round of 3-over 287.
St. John’s, one of Villanova’s Big East rivals, was another three shots behind Bucknell in fifth place with a 14-over 582 total as the Red Storm added a 5-over 289 in the second round to their opening round of 9-over 293.
Rhode Island, one of La Salle’s A-10 rivals, finished two shots behind St. John’s in sixth place with a 16-over 584 total as the Rams added a 6-over 290 in the second round to their opening round of 10-over 294.
Backing up Weaver for Villanova was Ryan Pamer of Hudson, Ohio, who is having an outstanding freshman season. Pamer finished among a trio of players tied for fourth place with a 1-under 141, two shots behind Garcia and Hurly. Pamer opened with a sparkling 4-under 67 before adding a 3-over 74 in a second round spread over two days.
Luke Alexander, a veteran senior from Rochester, Minn., gave Villanova a third finisher inside the top 20 as he ended up among the group tied for 18th place with a 3-over 145 total. Alexander added a 1-over 72 in the second round to his opening round of 2-over 73.
Jason Lohwater, a graduate student from Rochester, N.Y., finished in the group tied for 39th place with a 7-over 149 total as he added a 4-over 75 in the second round to his opening round of 3-over 74, both crucial counters for the Wildcats.
Rounding out the Villanova lineup was Josh Lavely, a freshman from Kewadin, Mich. who finished in a tie for 86th place with a 159 total as he struggled to an 83 in the opening round before bouncing back with a 5-over 76 in the second round.
Villanova head coach Jim Wilkes took the opportunity as the host team to send out three players to compete as individuals.
Vimal Alokam, a sophomore from Ypsilanti, Mich., opened with a solid 2-over 73 before closing with a 77 as he finished among the group tied for 46th place with an 8-over 150 total.
Kyle Kinnane, a graduate student from Anaheim Hills, Calif., joined his teammate Lavely in the tie for 86th place at 159 as he added a 6-over 77 in the second round to his opening-round 82.
Matt Minerva, a senior from Elmsford, N.Y., rounded out the Villanova contingent as he finished alone in 93rd place with a 164 total, struggling to a 91 in the opening round before bouncing back in the second round with a 2-over 73.
Villanova has one more tournament on its regular-season schedule, the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate, which tees off April 21 on The Ohio State University’s Scarlet Course, one of the great on-campus golf courses in America, before heading for the Big East Championship, which tees off April 28 at Riverton Pointe Golf & Country Club in Hardeeville, S.C.
Joining Villanova’s Pamer in the trio tied for fourth place at 1-under were Lehigh sophomore Aiden Oehrle, who helped Fox Chapel capture the PIAA Class AAA team crown in 2019, and Rhode Island’s Bryson Richards, a senior from Plainfield, Vt.
Oehrle matched par in the second round with a 71 after opening with a 1-under 70. After opening with a 2-over 73, Richards added a solid 3-under 68.
Heading a foursome of players tied for 10th place at even-par 142 was La Salle senior Nikita Romanov, who starred scholastically at Delaware’s Mount Pleasant and gave the Explorers a second finisher inside the top 10. Romanov, a product of the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour, opened with a 2-under 69 before carding a 2-over 73 in the second round.
Joining Romanov at even-par were William & Mary’s Matthew Feinstein, a graduate student from McLean, Va., St. John’s Tyler Gerbavsits, a fifth-year player from Huntingdon, N.Y., and Colgate’s Robbie Herzig, a sophomore from New York City.
Feinstein and Gerbavsits had the same splits as each added a 1-under 70 in the second round to an opening round of 1-over 72. Herzig opened with a 1-under 70 before adding a 1-over 72 in the second round.
La Salle had a third finisher inside the top 20 as freshman Kevin Lydon, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a senior at Central Bucks West in the fall of 2021, landed in the group tied for 18th place with a 3-over 145 total. Lydon added a 2-over 73 in the second round to his opening round of 1-over 72.
Lydon made a run to the quarterfinals in last summer’s BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship at Philadelphia Country Club.
Sophomore Alex Gekas, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in 2019 as a junior at Central York, finished in the group tied for 26th place with a 5-over 147 total as he added a 2-over 73 in the second round to his opening round of 3-over 74.
Rounding out the La Salle lineup was senior Karsen Rush, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in 2017 as a junior at Chambersburg, as he finished among the group tied for 52nd place with a 151 total. Rush matched par in the opening round to help the Explorers get off to a fast start before backing off with an 80 in the second round.
La Salle is headed for Easton and the Abarta Coca-Cola Collegiate Invitational hosted by Lafayette, which tees off Sunday at Northampton Country Club, the Explorers’ final tuneup before the Atlantic 10 Championship tees off April 28 at the Reunion Resort & Golf Club’s Watson Course in Kissimmee, Fla.
Drexel head coach Ben Feld sent a couple of his Dragons to LuLu to compete as individuals and got a strong showing from Oscar Maxfield, a graduate student from Salt Lake City, Utah who finished in the group tied for 13th place with a 2-over 144 total. Maxfield, who transferred to Drexel from Utah, matched par in the opening round with a 71 before adding a 2-over 73 in the second round.
Senior Ben Pochet, winner of back-to-back District One Class AAA individual titles in 2016 and 2017 in a brilliant scholastic career at Spring-Ford, finished in the group tied for 65th place with a 153 total. After opening with a 7-over 78, Pochet added a 75 in the second round.
Junior Nick Hano, a former Central Bucks West standout, was in the Rider lineup and finished in the group tied for 83rd place with a 158 total as he added a 7-over 78 in the second round to his opening-round 80.
Also in the Rhode Island lineup was redshirt freshman Chuck Tragresser, the runnerup to Holy Ghost Prep’s Calen Sanderson, a freshman at Notre Dame, in the PIAA Class AAA Championship in the pandemic year of 2020 as a senior at Franklin Regional.
Tragresser recorded a pair of 4-over 75s to finish among the group tied for 46th place with an 8-over 150 total.
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