Last weekend, the Bonnies traveled to Binghamton, N.Y., taking an eighth place finish in the Binghamton Invitational.
Fighting poor weather, the golfers battled through the first day of competition, finishing the opening half of the invitational in ninth place. Things flowed more smoothly the second day, and with good rounds by junior Josh Stauffer and junior Patrick Milkovich, Bonaventure was able to move up one position, finishing in eighth place.
Once again, Stauffer led the way for the Bonnies, finishing in sixth place with a two-round score of 144 strokes. Stauffer shot two strokes over par on the first day, but followed that up with a two stroke-under par 70 in his second round- tied for the best score of the day. Coach Erik Hoops was pleased with Stauffer’s performance.
“He played really well.” Hoops said. “He performed like a number one [player] is supposed to perform, and if he’d had a little bit better start, he might have won the whole thing,”
Milkovich also turned in a strong performance. He finished the tournament with a two-day score of 151 strokes. For Milkovich, the Binghamton Invitational held a little extra meaning because he grew up in Binghamton.
“It was nice to see Pat play well,” Hoops said. “He’s been playing that course his whole life, so I expected him to play well for us. He definitely responded with a couple nice rounds.”
The Bonnies also got a boost to their roster as junior Darren Simons returned to the course after recovering from a wrist injury.
“It was rough playing for the first time in two weeks, but if felt good to be back out there,” Simons said. “I think I can take some of the momentum from Binghamton and use it going forward.”
On Oct. 20, the Bonnies head to Dayton, OH for the Dayton Invitational. Coach Hoops has high hopes for his team.
“I’ve seen a lot of the teams we’re going to play,” Hoops said. “I know a lot of them from my time at Loyola and Toledo, and I don’t think they’re any better than we are. It’s a realistic expectation that we can win the tournament, but we’ll have to play really well.”
Simons echoed the beliefs of his coach, saying, “We go to every tournament thinking we can win. It’s tough to put four or five great scores together, but I think we have a pretty good chance of playing well at Dayton.”
kibbeei14@bonaventure.edu
