By Jonathan Sawyer
Sports Editor
The St. Bonaventure University golf team has already won two events this season and is looking to keep capitalizing on big moments. The team has finished first in two events, the Little Three Invitational in Springville, on Sept. 26 to 28 and the Binghamton Invitational in Binghamton on Oct. 2 and 3.
The head coach of the team, Ryan Swanson, says the team’s success comes from them working together as one.
“The guys work hard, they are getting out and they’re confident in themselves and what they have been working on in practices, which is translating over in tournaments,” Swanson said. “We were knocking on the door early in events, looking to post really good finishes and maybe not closing them out like we wanted them too. Getting into those positions more often is starting to pay off.”
Recently the Bonnies finished 11 out of 16 teams in the Dayton Invitational in Dayton, Ohio. Swanson said the team wasn’t happy with the finish.
“In both rounds we had a tough stretch of holes, which kept us from being in second or third. We were only five or six shots out of fifth,” Swanson said. “We have some stuff we need to clean up before we tee it up in Florida.”
Junior Corey Long says he is pleased with the role of the young guys on the team.
“Brent [Morgan] has seemed to realize his potential as a great player with a solid swing; Matt [Abendroth] is playing as solid as I’ve ever seen, he’s put in a lot of work this year and is becoming more comfortable at the college level,” Long said. “[Zach] Chaddock is a solid player with a great mental game, he’s just getting used to the higher level play and has adjusted nicely”
Swanson believes it has been a total team effort this season.
“Everybody has improved since the spring for sure not just physically, but mentally. We are more mentally sharp,” Swanson said. “We are much more of a team now than we were back in April and May. The guys have each other’s backs, they work hard for each other and that’s all you can ask for as a coach.”
The Bonnies play one more tournament for the fall season and then will be on a three-month break from competitive play. The long winter hurts the team because they aren’t getting on the course but Swanson believes his guys will be ready to come back strong.
“We get in our indoor facility and try to stay as sharp as we can. The guys go home for Christmas break and they have places around where they live where they can get some work in too,” Swanson said. “Hopefully we aren’t behind the eight ball come February, but [it is] kind of hard not to be with the long winter, but we won’t make any excuses, we will be ready to tee it up in Fort Lauderdale.”
Long believes the fall season is important for the team’s confidence come Atlantic 10 play in the spring.
“In February for the A10 match play it helps as our Golf stat ranking goes up, this allows us to draw a better seeding in that event,” Long said. “For the A10 conference tournament, winning multiple times at any point in the year just proves to everyone on the team that we are capable of winning, no matter what event we play in – we still have the offseason and a full spring schedule ahead to gain experience and improve for A10s in April.”
The Bonnies will head on the road to Old Corkscrew Golf Club on Monday and Tuesday for the FGCU Invitational in Estero, Florida.
sawyerjp15@bonaventure.edu
