Photo courtesy of GoBonnies
The St. Bonaventure golf team has championship-sized hopes at the start of the 2019 season. After finishing in 7th out of 11 teams in the Atlantic 10 Championship last season, the Bonnies hoped to begin their season on the right foot.
Junior Danny Gianniny, one of the leaders from last year’s team, sees an exciting young core ready to make some noise within the A-10 Conference.
“Obviously the ultimate goal, at the end of every year, is to win an A-10 Championship, or at least have a chance coming down the stretch,” Gianniny said. “I’m pretty excited for this year. Hopefully we can make some noise.”
The strong group of freshmen that came in this year, both mentioned by graduate student Nolan Ditcher and Gianniny, is one of the reasons the team can make a run in the A-10. Gianniny singled out Jack Bailey, saying “He’s been playing really well. He’s solid.” Ditcher also mentioned the freshman, believing in their growth, saying “I think they are going to develop a lot and learn a lot pretty quick.”
The season got underway this week with a pair of events. The Bonnies opened up its season at the Alex Lagowitz Memorial Invitational at Seven Oaks Golf Club in Hamilton, New York. Out of 18 teams, the Bonnies finished No. 12, posting a score of 900, 20 strokes behind the University of Cornell, which came in first.
Senior Zach Chaddock led the way for the Bonnies, shooting a score of 76-74-73; he finished No. 21 overall. Chaddock’s play progressed as he went on, lowering his score each round. On the last 18 holes, he led the Bonnies with his score of 73.
Freshman Jack Bailey started off his collegiate career by shooting 77-72-77, finishing No. 32 overall in the event. A pair of juniors: Christian Chapman (77-76-74), Gianniny (74-79-75) and Jack Geise (77-75-79) were the remaining three players for the Bonnies. Freshman Andrew LaCongo, who was also making his collegiate debut, played as an individual; he finished with a score of 78-84-81.
Tuesday, the Bonnies won the Little Three Championship for the fourth year in a row. Hosted at the Bartlett Country Club in Olean, New York, the Bonnies won with a score of 578 over Canisius College (598) and Niagara University (601).
Graduate student Nolan Ditcher made his season debut with an exclamation point, winning the tournament with a score of 142.
Ditcher talked about his expectations, and how he strives to make the most of his last chance to play the game of golf for the Brown and White.
“You know, honestly at this point, it’s just my last year, go out, and play the best I can,” said Ditcher. “I have a lot of time to practice, a lot of time to focus on golf. So, I just want to make the most of it while I’m here this last year.”
Entering his fourth season as St. Bonaventure’s coach, Coach Ryan Swanson was very impressed with the way Ditcher performed.
“I think he’s ready to go for a good senior year, and I’m certainly excited for him,” Swanson said.
Swanson was also delighted with the way his group came out after a busy weekend of play.
“I think we are a little tired after the long weekend and trying to throw this on a Tuesday in between two 54-hole events. But, the second round we bounced back strong when we were really tired, and because the first round was pretty ugly for a handful of guys, but they came back strong and they never quit and for that I can’t be disappointed,” Swanson said.
The Bonnies will head to Cornell University to participate in the Cornell Invitational tomorrow and Sunday.
By Tom Seipp, Contributing Writer
seipptw19@bonaventure.edu
