The St. Bonaventure golf team teed off its season with a tenth-place finish in the Alex Lagowitz Invitational at the Seven Oaks Country Club in Hamilton, N.Y.
Juniors Corey Long and Patrick Sheerer led the Bonnies with scores of 72-78-71/221 and 75-79-80/234, with freshman Zach Chaddock close behind in his first collegiate tournament with scores of 77-81-77/235.
“I felt that I played all right for it being my first collegiate event,” said Chaddock. “I had a couple solid rounds, and I feel if I manage my game a little better to eliminate the big numbers, I could have some better finishes in the future.”
Chaddock said he has been dreaming of playing golf in college since he was a child and called playing in his first tournament as a Bonnie “surreal.”
“I have been dreaming of playing college golf ever since I watched one of my good family friends play for Bona’s when I was younger,” said Chaddock. “I love playing in fields where all the players are some of the best in college golf. It makes me raise my game to their level, and it’s just a whole lot of fun.”
As a whole, Coach Ryan Swanson said the team had some good moments, and he especially liked the play from Long, who finished in the top ten for individuals, Sheerer and Chaddock.
“Those three played solid, but they need some help from the other guys, and we need that quick,” said Swanson. “This weekend we’re off, and then we have three straight on the road, and we need to find a way to be consistent as a team.”
Sheerer spoke about playing consistently as well, saying the team needs to be more consistent in some places, but need to be able to break up the bad stretches they have.
“We showed some flashes of really good golf that, if extrapolated, would lead to contending and winning a lot of golf tournaments,” said Sheerer. “But each individual seemed to have some bad stretches where they couldn’t get off the ‘bogey train,’ which we cannot do as a team if we want to reach our potential.”
Swanson said the team drove off the tee well and putting was not bad either, but there is room for improvement.
“Iron shots and around the green needs improvement,” said Swanson. “Before Cornell, we’ll get the short game worked out.”
Long agreed with his coach, saying the team can play better than this in future tournaments.
“We finished tenth, so we have work to do. We need to improve short game. That’s always an area of improvement,” said Long. “We know we underperformed as a team, but we’re continuing to work at our weaknesses.”
Chaddock said competing in his first tournament as a Bonnie, he knows what parts of his game need improvement.
“I’m looking to sharpen up my wedge play going into Cornell, and I’m always looking to improve my short game,” said Chaddock. “If I could manage my game a bit better, hit some better wedge shots, and roll a couple more putts in I think I could have a successful week at Cornell.”
Both Swanson and Chaddock said the main weakness of the team is that it is lacking sharpness, and it gets tired too easily.
“The 36- hole round is a grind. By the time you hit the second 18, you’re pretty exhausted mentally and physically,” said Chaddock. “I think that we just need to get in a little better shape as a team and just stay tough.”
“It’s not just on the golf course,” said Swanson. “We need to get better in the weight room so we can handle those 36-hole days better.”
Sheerer pointed out that the team is very young at this point, and so it might take a little while for the team to find its way.
“I think we have a lot of talent, and I think we will contend in a few tournaments, and that’s all you can really do,” said Sheerer. “Try and get into contention a few times, learn to win, and then finally take some trophies home with you.”
Chaddock said he is expecting the team to start bringing in some results, and it just need to put itself in position to make good shots.
“My expectations for the upcoming season is to turn some heads in the college golf scene,” said Chaddock. “I think that our team is overlooked. We have the talent on the team to be contenders every week, we just need to do it.”
