By Harrison Leone
Contributing Writer
As the season moves forward, the men’s golf team hopes to build off its early successes.
The Bonnies travel to Ithaca to participate in the Cornell Invitational Tournament this weekend. Following Cornell, SBU competes in the Binghamton Invitational in Appalachian, N.Y., Oct. 7 and 8.
The fall schedule sees the Bonnies head south to Old Dominion University in late October. Coach John Powers cited this as the most significant tournament of the fall.
“Old Dominion will definitely be the toughest one,” Powers said. “There’ll be a strong field and a lot of good Southern teams.”
The Bonnies are coming off a first place finish at the 24th Annual Leo Keenan Invitational Tournament, held this past weekend at the Bartlett Country Club in Olean. St. Bonaventure prevailed over eight schools, including fellow A-10 member La Salle and local rival Niagara University. Last year’s champion, Robert Morris University, came in second. The Eagles finished 13 strokes behind the Bonnies.
The weekend’s victory gave St. Bonaventure its fifteenth all-time victory at the tournament. The Bonnies finished third in 2011.
Powers praised the consistency and depth of the team as key components to the strong start to the season.
“We’ve been getting contributions from all ends of the lineup” Powers said. “We’ve gotten solid scores in every round we’ve played. We’re really consistent as a team.”
Junior Scott Brady echoed the coach’s sentiment.
“Everyone’s been playing real solid this season” said Brady, an Olean native.
Prior to the Leo Keenan Invitational, the Bonnies were in Annapolis, Md., competing in the Navy Fall Classic. Out of 15 universities from across the nation, including the A-10’s La Salle, Temple and St. Joseph’s, Bonaventure came in second. Only North Dakota State beat the Bonnies. The Bisons, who shot three under par as a team, bested the Bonnies by 15 strokes.
Bonaventure senior Brian McKenna tied for the fifth-best score at the tournament by shooting one over par. Senior Greg Horvath tied for eleventh place, while freshman Josh Stauffer and redshirt freshman Darren Simmons tied for fourteenth place.
The first tournament of the season, the Little Three Invitational, held at the Harvest Hill Golf Club in Orchard Park, NY, saw the Bonnies come in second to Canisius College, losing by nine strokes. The three schools competing in the tournament were Bonaventure, Canisius and Niagara.
“Each tournament so far this year has had a little bit tougher opponents,” Powers said. “We’ll start to be more and more challenged each week.”
Brady has seen improvement and growth in this years’ squad.
“There’s a lot more competition within the team to play in tournaments,” Brady said. “It’s made everyone better.”
