Men’s Golf Opens Season With Win at RIC

After months of training, the men’s golf team opened its spring season in impressive fashion last Friday and Saturday, April 5 and 6, by winning the Rhode Island College Spring Invitational, hosted at Triggs Memorial Golf Course in Providence, R.I. The Panthers finished with a combined score of 620 strokes, easily topping runner-ups Endicott College (653) and Husson University (658). Elms College and host RIC rounded out the top five.

Tough conditions made the already difficult course even more of a challenge, with gusting winds and cold temperatures all weekend.  The greens were firm, fast and crowned.  The men responded by playing somewhat conservatively, putting the ball in the right place and planning their shots well on the way to victory.

“The team is coming along real well,” said head coach Bill Beaney.  “They adapted well and played very smart with good course management.”

Rob Donahoe ’14 and William Prince ’13 led the way for the Panthers, tying for the lowest score of the weekend with 151 strokes each.  Donahoe was able to edge out Prince in a tiebreaker, earning match medalist honors.  The two golfers were very consistent, with Donahoe shooting 76-75 and Prince 75-76.

“As is typical early in the season, there were some bright spots and some weak spots on an individual and team level,” said Prince.  “Going forward we are going to work hard to improve upon these weaknesses.”

Max Alley ’14 was just behind Prince and Donahoe all weekend long, finishing with a 157 strokes – good enough for fourth place overall in the tournament.  Eric Laorr ’15 shot 80-81 for a total of 161 strokes, finishing seventh overall.   Chris Atwood contributed a 165 with a strong 79 on Saturday and finished 12th. Charlie Garcia ’15 rounded out the Panthers squad with 172, shooting an 86 each day. As evidenced by having five of the top 12 individual finishers, the men’s team boasts a deep starting lineup this year.

“The win this weekend was great for us in terms of getting in a winning mindset,” said Prince.  “We want to win every weekend this spring, so this will help us get in the mindset of dominating and closing out a tournament.”

The Panthers head south next weekend, April 13 and 14, to play in the Manhattanville Spring Invitational at Lyman Orchards Golf Club in Wallingford, Conn.  There they will face stiff competition, including divisional rivals Trinity and Williams, in what will surely be good preparation for the NESCAC Championship at the end of April.

“I hope that this weekend will give us a great idea of the small things we need to work on and tie some loose ends together,” said Beaney.

It will also be an opportunity for the team to figure out its top five.

“We have a deep team with a lot of good competition in house,” he said.