Post by oldtimer1 on Sept 1, 2014 21:29:18 GMT -5
Golf News...mixed results but plenty of cause for optimism. For those who follow our Golf Team and hoping for a repeat MAAC Championship this weekends results at the Missouri Turning Stone Intercollegiate were very encouraging. At first glance our 7th place finish was underwhelming, even though our Team advanced up the leaderboard each day from 10th to 9th to 7th. So why the reason for optimism?
Let's start with the golf course. The Turning Stone Resort and Golf Courses are rated #2 in the country. The Resort has hosted several Pro Tour Events but the Pro's play the easier of the two courses. The Kahaula course we played is extremely difficult with hazards on every single hole. The Pro's are very good but when they hit it they want to find it! Not so at Kahaula. It's slope rating by the USGA ( for those who know what that means) is the highest in NYS and higher than the famed Bethpage Black. Just a very difficult course.
We opened with horrible scores even with the pouring rain. Actually the scores from our "big three" weren't that bad and would probably have placed us mid-pack. Problem was we had to count an 87 by Dominic Diaz who took a 10 on one hole. Easy to do with 3 balls in the hazzard. Team was led by Nick Dilio who shot a 79.
Second round we moved up the leader board one spot.....but that's not the whole story. Midway through the round Nick could no longer continue. Later found to have a 102 degree fever. He wanted to continue but no way! At the time Nick was only 1 over par. As a result we played with only 4 players and had to count another 80 score. If Nick were healthy his score would have counted and probably lowered our team score by 5 or 6 shots. Remember in College Golf 5 players tee it up but only the 4 best scores count. Losing Nick hurt. Thus at the end of the 2nd round I would have labled our results fair. Then came today.
Still no Nick so we had to play with 4 players against the other teams 5. The results were that my top three players fired some of the best scores of the day. Co-captains Eric Edmunds and Brian Grubbs each fired 1 over 73"s. Dominic Diaz who posted a fine 73 the previous day posted a one under par 71 which included 6 birdies.....quite a round! Unfortunately, only playing 4 players the score we had to count was an 81 ( triple bogey on the last hole). Even with that we bettered Villanova's 299 and tied Seton Hall's 298. Imagine if we had Nick! Would have completely outscored both teams.
So as I stated mixed results but much to be happy about. Tournaments are fine but it's all about the MAAC Conference Championships in late April. Fairfield, Monmouth and a few other teams will be tough but we look very strong ourselves. This is especially so when your 4th man (Dominic Diaz) posts a 73/71 on a very difficult course. We look very strong #1- #4, yet still experimenting and looking for that 5th player.
Again, sorry for the long response but I know many of us are golfers and everyone was so supportive of our team last year that I wantde to let our followers know that things look good. If not, my responsibility
Let's start with the golf course. The Turning Stone Resort and Golf Courses are rated #2 in the country. The Resort has hosted several Pro Tour Events but the Pro's play the easier of the two courses. The Kahaula course we played is extremely difficult with hazards on every single hole. The Pro's are very good but when they hit it they want to find it! Not so at Kahaula. It's slope rating by the USGA ( for those who know what that means) is the highest in NYS and higher than the famed Bethpage Black. Just a very difficult course.
We opened with horrible scores even with the pouring rain. Actually the scores from our "big three" weren't that bad and would probably have placed us mid-pack. Problem was we had to count an 87 by Dominic Diaz who took a 10 on one hole. Easy to do with 3 balls in the hazzard. Team was led by Nick Dilio who shot a 79.
Second round we moved up the leader board one spot.....but that's not the whole story. Midway through the round Nick could no longer continue. Later found to have a 102 degree fever. He wanted to continue but no way! At the time Nick was only 1 over par. As a result we played with only 4 players and had to count another 80 score. If Nick were healthy his score would have counted and probably lowered our team score by 5 or 6 shots. Remember in College Golf 5 players tee it up but only the 4 best scores count. Losing Nick hurt. Thus at the end of the 2nd round I would have labled our results fair. Then came today.
Still no Nick so we had to play with 4 players against the other teams 5. The results were that my top three players fired some of the best scores of the day. Co-captains Eric Edmunds and Brian Grubbs each fired 1 over 73"s. Dominic Diaz who posted a fine 73 the previous day posted a one under par 71 which included 6 birdies.....quite a round! Unfortunately, only playing 4 players the score we had to count was an 81 ( triple bogey on the last hole). Even with that we bettered Villanova's 299 and tied Seton Hall's 298. Imagine if we had Nick! Would have completely outscored both teams.
So as I stated mixed results but much to be happy about. Tournaments are fine but it's all about the MAAC Conference Championships in late April. Fairfield, Monmouth and a few other teams will be tough but we look very strong ourselves. This is especially so when your 4th man (Dominic Diaz) posts a 73/71 on a very difficult course. We look very strong #1- #4, yet still experimenting and looking for that 5th player.
Again, sorry for the long response but I know many of us are golfers and everyone was so supportive of our team last year that I wantde to let our followers know that things look good. If not, my responsibility