By Sam Belden
Joseph Trimm was the top finisher for the Rams, tying for 16th. (Fordham Athletics/Joseph Trim)
It may have ended with some late heartbreak, but it was still a productive weekend for the Fordham golf team at the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of the Lehigh Valley Collegiate Invitational. Entering the event as the defending champions, the Rams posted a score of 613 to finish in fifth place out of 19 teams, their best finish anywhere since last year’s victory.
Still, the tournament’s second round was a disappointing one for the Rams. Every Fordham player had his best round of the week on Saturday, and while the Rams trailed wire-to-wire winner Connecticut by just one shot after the first round, their Sunday performances left them 31 shots behind by the end of the event.
“Definitely a learning experience for us,” said senior Oscar Cabanas. “It actually could be better for us heading into [the Atlantic 10 Championship] knowing that we can play badly. We’ve had a couple good rounds the last few rounds that we’ve played, and I think this last round humbled us.”
Junior Joseph Trim led the way for the Rams, shooting rounds of 72 and 78 at Silver Creek Country Club to tie for 16th. The Florida native was tied for third after the opening round, but he struggled on Sunday, making seven bogeys or worse along with a lone eagle to fall down the leaderboard.
Cabanas also had a solid week, posting rounds of 75 and 77 to tie for 22nd. While he played relatively steady golf on Sunday, a pair of final round double bogeys spoiled his chances of finishing any higher.
Cabanas has found the top 25 in back-to-back events to open the spring season, a stat that he attributes to his resilience. “Tee to green, the course was playing pretty fair, but the greens were actually pretty tough,” he said. “I think I grinded out my round pretty well. Just kind of stayed focused the whole way through, that’s what’s made the difference for me so far.”
The remaining Rams did not fare so well. After opening with a 73, junior Matt Schiller had a round to forget on Sunday, posting seven bogeys in addition to a triple on the 11th hole to tumble out of the top 10. He ended up in a tie for 42nd place. Junior James Mongey was one stroke behind in a tie for 49th; he shot rounds of 76 and 80. Sophomore Tommy Hayes signed for an opening 76 and a closing 88 to tie for 87th place, rounding out the scoring for Fordham.
Freshman Tomas Nieves, playing as an individual, turned in a solid performance with rounds of 76 and 77, an encouraging sign after the Miami native tied for 73rd in his Fordham debut at the Wildcat Invitational last month.
On the team leaderboard, Connecticut was not seriously challenged. The Huskies were the lowest scorers in both rounds, leading to their 14-stroke victory over Drexel and Bryant in second place.
Anton Frondelius of Wagner College took medalist honors, opening with a 70 and closing with a 73 to finish with a score of one-under-par. He was tied with Connecticut’s Eric Dietrich and Villanova’s Lucas Trim (brother of Fordham’s Joseph Trim) after regulation, but it only took two playoff holes for the Swede to come out on top.
The Rams’ next event is the Yale Spring Invitational, where they hope to gain some more momentum.
“[Yale holds] a great tournament, so hopefully we’ll play well when we get there,” said Cabanas. “We’ll definitely do our best knowing that it’s pretty much our final tune-up before we head down to Florida for A-10s.”
The team has this weekend off and will play the one-day Yale event on Saturday, April 15. Two days later, the Rams will head to Quidnesset Country Club for the Rhode Island Invitational, their last event before A-10s.
