By Sam Belden
The Rams wrapped up their season at the A10 championships. (Courtesy of Fordham Athletics)
After playing five events in just over a month, the Fordham golf team’s springtime spring is complete. The Rams never quite got off the ground at last weekend’s Atlantic 10 Championship, finishing seventh out of 11 schools.
Playing through 90-degree weather at Florida’s Grand Cypress Golf Club, Fordham turned in rounds of 288, 297 and 293 for a total score of 878. They finished 38 strokes behind the Richmond Spiders, whose winning score of 840 was 13 clear of second place.
Junior Joseph Trim led the way for Fordham, opening with a strong 69 before fading to twin 74s on the weekend. He finished the week in a tie for 16th. Senior Oscar Cabanas, playing his last tournament as a Ram, also had a solid week, finishing four shots behind Trim in a tie for 22nd.
The remaining Rams were clustered around the middle of the leaderboard. Junior James Mongey improved his score every day, logging rounds of 78, 74 and 71 to tie for 33rd. Junior Matt Schiller and freshman Tomas Nieves were one stroke behind in a tie for 35th. While Fordham was shut out of the top 10, it was one of just four teams to finish with all its players in the top 35.
“I have no complaints with how we played,” said Cabanas. “I think we could have done better, certainly, but I think we played admirably in comparison to the rest of the field.”
“We recalled how we played last year at A-10s — we came in fifth — and we set that as a goal,” he continued. “You know, ‘Let’s try to improve on last year.’ Even though we didn’t, I think the team will still take away a positive experience down there.”
While Richmond’s squad featured five top-five finishers, none of them took medalist honors. That distinction went to Jack Lang of the Davidson Wildcats, who shot twin 68s on the weekend to clip a talented group of runner-ups: Alister Balcombe of VCU and Andrew Sciarretta and Zack Justice of Richmond.
As a team, the Rams finished this spring with a pair of top fives to go along with three seventh-place finishes. They had their best performances at the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of the Lehigh Valley Collegiate Invitational and the Rhode Island Invitational, finishing fifth and third, respectively.
“We probably fell a little bit short of what we expected. Having said that, I think we would have fallen short of our expectations no matter what,” said Cabanas. “The team is very confident in their ability, and even though we play tough competition, we always expect to win.”
The team will return to action in the fall, and aside from Cabanas, the core of the roster will remain the same. Trim, Schiller and Mongey should form a three-headed monster at the top of the lineup, and it looks like Nieves has the potential to develop into a frontline player before he graduates. With these four leading the way, Fordham Golf is well-positioned heading into next season.
