The Fordham golf team returned to action on Sept. 10, traveling to Simsbury, Connecticut for the Ryan Lee Memorial Tournament. Even with the long summer layoff, the Rams had no trouble picking up right where they left off in the spring. They finished fifth out of 14 teams, good for their fourth top-five finish in their last six events.
Even though they fell short of victory, the Rams turned in a consistent performance. Their opening round of 296 put them in a tie for third place at the midway point, while their closing 300 dropped them into fifth place, three strokes shy of a podium finish. Still, it was not enough to satisfy the ambitious Fordham players.
“I can speak for all of us when I say we are not happy with the way we played,” said junior Joseph Trim. “We easily felt like we could have finished second, and if everything fell into place, possibly [could] have won.”
Junior Matt Schiller led the way for Fordham, sharing runner-up honors on the individual leaderboard. The Cincinnati native was on his game, signing for rounds of 73 and 71 to kick off the fall portion of the season. If not for a pair of triple bogeys in his opening round, he would have had the lowest individual score of the tournament, even so, his tie for second matches his career-best finish as a Ram.
Trim also got the year off to a fine start, posting a pair of solid rounds to wind up in solo fifth. While his opening 70 put him in a tie for the lead after the first round, his closing round of 75 included five bogeys and took him out of contention.
“I was very anxious to finally play tournament golf [again],” he said. “Personally, I thought it was important to remind myself that it was a 36-hole tournament, that we still have four more tournaments after this and there is still a lot of golf left to be played.”
The other Rams finished further down on the leaderboard. Sophomore Tommy Hayes signed for rounds of 76 and 78, landing him in a tie for 39th place. Junior James Mongey notched rounds of 77 and 78, just one stroke behind. Finally, senior Oscar Cabanas opened with an 80, but recovered nicely with a Sunday 76, ending up in a tie for 47th place.
The Bryant University Bulldogs ultimately won the event. With four golfers in the top 10, including medalist Ryan Tombs and co-runner-up McKinley Slade, the Bulldogs were clearly the best team in the field, outpacing the competition by 14 strokes. Tombs’ Sunday 69 was the low round of the tournament.
Wagner College finished in second place, while Central Connecticut State University, the tournament host, took third.
While Fordham is looking to add to its victory count, it was still a successful season debut. Finishing in the top five should give the team plenty of momentum as it turns its attention to the four events remaining on the fall schedule. The Rams will return to action on Monday at the Hartford Hawks Invitational in South Kent, Connecticut.
