Behind individual champion Battye, La Salle edges Penn by a shot to claim team crown in Battle at Rum Pointe

 

   Last week’s Battle at Rum Pointe in Berlin, Md. turned into a fight to the finish between a couple of City 6 entries as La Salle, behind individual champion Ben Battye, a sophomore from Torrance, Calif., edged Penn by a shot for the team crown.

   The Rum Pointe Seaside Golf Links, just below Ocean City, Md., caught the worst of the Easter weekend winds as the Good Friday opening round was played in high winds with higher gusts. The winds backed off somewhat for Saturday’s Easter eve final round, but the late March winds were a factor in making scoring difficult.

   There weren’t a whole lot of scores in the 60s, but Battye had two of them as he battled the winds for an opening round of 3-under 69 over the 7,001-yard, par-72 Rum Pointe layout. He really got it going on the outgoing nine at Rum Pointe in Saturday’s second round on his way to a 4-under 68 for a 7-under 137 total and a dominating six-shot victory.

   Not positive that Battye started on the first hole for Saturday’s second round, but his scorecard included birdies on the third, fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth holes for a front-nine total of 5-under 31. That would have been really strong even if the wind hadn’t been blowing.

   Battye’s back nine included a double bogey at the 11^th hole, birdies at 13 and 14 and a bogey at 16.

   Having the individual champion isn’t always the difference between winning or losing the team crown, but, in this case, Battye’s low scores while most of the rest of the field was struggling with the conditions might have given the Explorers the winning edge.

   La Salle, which plays out of the Atlantic 10, trailed Penn by two after the Explorers opened with a 13-over 301. La Salle improved by 12 shots in Saturday’s final round with a solid 1-over 289 for a 14-over 590 total.

   Penn, an Ivy League representative, opened with an 11-over 299 and added a 4-over 292 in Saturday’s final round to finish just a shot behind the Explorers with a 15-over 591 total.

   It was La Salle’s first tournament of the spring while Penn was teeing it up for the second time this spring, but the Quakers’ first tournament since they played against a loaded field in the Watersound Invitational at Shark’s Tooth Golf Course in Panama City, Fla. in February.

   La Salle will keep it local for its next two events as the Explorers will tee it up in an event hosted by Drexel beginning Monday at Green Valley Country Club, the home course of Drexel head coach Ben Feld, and then a week later in the Wildcat Invitational, hosted by Villanova at LuLu Country Club.

   La Salle will then head south for the Atlantic 10 Championship, which tees off April 26 at the Evermore Orlando Resort in Orlando, Fla.

   Penn will be close to home this weekend for the Princeton Invitational Saturday and Sunday at Springdale Golf Club in Princeton, N.J. and will tee it up Saturday, April 13 in the Roar-EE Invitational at Wiltwyk Golf Club in Kingston, N.Y.

   The Quakers will be back in New Jersey for the Ivy League Championship, which tees off April 19 at Wachtung Valley Golf Club in Wachtung, N.J.

   Host Iona headed a parade of Metro Atlantic Athletic Association teams lined up between the top two in the team standings. The Gaels struggled in the wind to an opening-round 305, but matched par in Saturday’s second round with a 288, the best team round of the tournament, to finish two shots behind Penn in third place with a 17-over 593 total.

   Iona was led by Sahir Balyan, a freshman from Simi Valley, Calif. who added a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s final round to his opening round of 1-over 73 for a 1-under 143 that left him six shots behind Battye, but earned Balyan runnerup honors.

   Two more MAAC teams, Fairfield and Mount St. Mary’s, were another five shots behind Iona in a tie for fourth place, each landing on 22-over 598.

   The Stags shaved 20 shots off an opening-round 309 with a solid 1-over 289 in Saturday’s final round. The Mount improved by 10 shots from their opening-round 304 with a 6-over 294 in Saturday’s final round.

   Mount St. Mary’s was led by senior Ben Smith, who finished in a tie for 12^th place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship in 2018 as a senior at West Perry. Ben Smith, whose college career started at Penn State, finished alone in third place, two shots behind Iona’s Balyan, with a 1-over 145 total as he matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 1-over 73 in Saturday’s final round.

   Siena, also a MAAC representative, finished three shots behind Fairfield and Mount St. Mary’s in sixth place with a 25-over 601 total as the Saints bounced back from an opening-round 309 with a solid 4-over 292 in Saturday’s final round.

   One more MAAC entry, Rider, finished two shots behind Siena in seventh place in the 18-team field with a 27-over 603 total as the Broncs, like most of the field, struggled in the opening round with a 311 before rebounding with a solid 4-over 292 in Saturday’s final round.

   Backing up Battye for La Salle was sophomore Kevin Lydon, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a senior at Central Bucks West in 2021, as he finished among a trio of players tied for 11^th place with a 4-over 148 total. Lydon, who reached the quarterfinals of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur in 2022 at Philadelphia Country Club, added a 1-over 73 in Saturday’s final round to his opening-round 75.

   Gavin Dosch, a freshman from Draper, Utah, snuck into the top 20 for the Explorers as he matched par with a critical 72 in Saturday’s final round to join the group tied for 20^th place with a 6-over 150 total. Dosch had opened with a 79.

   Graduate student Karsen Rush, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in 2017 as a junior at Chambersburg, finished among the group tied for 50^th place with a 157 total. Rush’s opening round of 6-over 78 turned out to be crucial counter for the Explorers and he added a 79 in Saturday’s final round.

   Rounding out the La Salle lineup was graduate student Nikita Romanov, a product of Mount Pleasant High School near Wilmington, Del. who struggled to a 85 in the opening round, but bounced back with a 4-over 76, an important counter, in Saturday’s final round to finish in the group tied for 71^st place with a 161.

   An important part of the development of Romanov’s game as a youngster was his frequent starts on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour.

   Penn’s Jamin Jung, a senior from Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., headed a trio of players who finished in a tie for fourth place a shot behind Mount St. Mary’s Ben Smith at 2-over 146. Jung posted a pair of 1-over 73s in leading the way for the Quakers.

   Joining Jung at 2-over were Fairfield’s Colin Sweeney, a junior from Westfield, N.J. and Smith’s Mount St. Mary’s teammate Aaron Sorkin, a junior from Westminster, Md. Sweeney and Sorkin had identical splits as each added a solid 1-under 71 in Saturday’s final round to an opening round of 3-over 75.

   Penn’s Max Fonseca, a freshman from Miami, Fla., was joined by a pair of Siena players, Matt Ferrari, a fifth-year player from Croton-On-Hudson, N.Y., and Nathan Crowley, a fifth-year player from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and Iona’s Sean Richards, a freshman from Parkland, Fla., as they finished in a tie for seventh place at 3-over 147.

   Fonseca signed for a solid 1-under 71 in the difficult conditions of the opening round before adding a 4-over 76 in Saturday’s final round.

   Ferrari added a 1-over 73 in Saturday’s final round to his opening-round 74 while his teammate Crowley closed with a solid 2-under 70 after opening with a 5-over 77.

   Richards bounced back from an opening round of 7-over 79 to contribute a 4-under 68 to Iona’s strong finish.

   Joining La Salle’s Lydon in the trio tied for 11^th place at 4-over were Rider’s Connor Bekefi, a graduate student from Toms River, N.J., and Sweeney’s Fairfield teammate, Pat McCarthy, a graduate student from Bethesda, Md.

   Bekefi and McCarthy had identical splits, each matching par in the final round with a 72 after opening with a 4-over 76.

   Ben Scott, a junior from Manhattan Beach, Calif., gave Penn a third finisher inside the top 15 as he landed among the group tied for 15^th place with a 6-over 150 total. Scott bounced back from an opening round of 7-over 79 with a solid 1-under 71 in Saturday’s final round.

   Hayden Adams, a freshman from Lexington, Ky., matched par in Saturday’s final round with a 72 for the Quakers to finish among a trio of players tied for 30^th place with a 153 total. Adams had opened with an 81.

   Rounding out the Penn lineup was George Roessler, a junior from West Palm Beach, Fla. who finished in the group tied for 37^th place with a 155 total. Roessler added a 79 in Saturday’s final round to his opening round of 4-over 76.

   There was another Smith from Pennsylvania in the Mount St. Mary’s lineup as junior Devin Smith, who twice finished in the top 10 in the PIAA Class AAA Championship during a standout scholastic career at Waynesboro, finished in the group tied for 65^th place with a 160 total. Devin Smith bounced back from an opening-round 85 with a 3-over 75 in Saturday’s final round.

   Rider sophomore Ben Ortwein, a three-time PIAA Class AA qualifier during a standout scholastic career at Notre Dame Green Pond, joined Penn’s Roessler in the group tied for 37^th place at 155. Ortwein added a 3-over 75 in Saturday’s final round to his opening-round 80.