Photo: St. Bonaventure Athletics
BY KYLE MAIER, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The St. Bonaventure University men’s golf team heads to North Carolina this weekend to compete in the ODU/Kilmarlic Invitational. The last of the Bonnies’ fall season, the invitational will be hosted by Old Dominion University and played at Kilmarlic Golf Club in Powells Point from Oct. 22 to 24.
The Bonnies are coming off a 283-276 loss to Siena College for the Murray Cup. Sophomore Caleb Decker led the team with a career-best 3-under 69. He had a dominant day on the links, draining three birdies, two on par-5s, and one on a par 4. Decker’s performance tied him second in the competition with Siena’s Gavin Crowley.
Graduate Lance Sininger and reigning A-10 Golfer of the Week Michael Bucko also had solid outings, both shooting under par (1-under 71) and tying for sixth individually.
Despite the loss, the Bonnies are not phased heading into this final match of their fall season.
“I expect to compete,” said Bonnies head coach Ryan Swanson. “I think we are riding some momentum from our last-two team rounds. The goal is to come up with a game plan Saturday and then execute for three straight days. If we do the little things well, we can compete with the teams that will be there; probably the best field we have seen all fall, so we look forward to seeing how we stack up.”
Swanson’s players are like-minded: “We are on the rise and trending in the right direction,” said Decker. “We are looking forward to playing well and setting us in the right direction for the spring.”
The season’s conclusion also allows the Bonnies to reflect on their performance as a program this fall.
“I’m very pleased with the direction we are headed,” said Swanson. “We are finding some balance and getting different guys to lead us, which is what makes good teams good. The overall goal is to be playing our best in April, and to do that we need to experience some very good rounds. We have done that the last couple events, and we hope to end the fall that way this weekend.”
Having won the Little Three Championship and tying second at the Mathews Auto Collegiate Golf Invitational earlier this season, many members of the team expressed optimism going forward.
“This year, nobody expected us to be anything special after coming off a not-so-great season,” said sophomore Gabe Williams. “Then, we won by 40 shots in our first tournament, and knew we had something special this year.”
Following this tournament, the Bonnies do not play again until the Ross Collegiate Classic in March.
maierkj22@bonaventure.edu
