By Jimmy Sullivan
For the second week in a row, Fordham men’s golf finished near the bottom of the leaderboard in a team tournament.
The team finished 12th out of 14 teams this past weekend at the MacDonald Cup, which was hosted by Yale University and took place at the school’s nearly 100-year-old golf course. Officially, round one of the tournament was 36 holes while Sunday’s final round was just 18. The hosts of the tournament, the Yale Bulldogs, finished in first place at +12. Fordham finished play at +57, ahead of only St. John’s University and Fairfield University. Also competing in the tournament were Brown University, Bucknell University, Central Connecticut State University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, St. Edward’s University and Stirling University, a school located in the Central Belt of Scotland. Additionally, Yale fielded a second team in the MacDonald Cup known as it’s “B-Team.” This squad finished at 44-over, good for sole possession of fourth place.
For the Rams, senior Joseph Trim led the charge and finished tied for ninth on the individual leaderboard with a six-over 216 over three rounds; his fine effort culminated in a one-under 69 in Sunday’s final round. For the senior from Tampa, Florida, a major key was his putting ability against The Course at Yale’s treacherous greens.
“The Course at Yale’s greens are tricky and have a lot of subtle breaks to them,” said Trim. “Having played it as many times as I’ve had over the last three years, I found myself very comfortable with what I was reading and felt confident on the greens. I saw a couple mid-range putts go in over the first nine holes on Saturday and it jumpstarted me for the rest of the tournament.”
Indeed, Trim sat at one-under-par after the first nine holes of the tournament, setting the stage for his outstanding performance the rest of the weekend. Trim’s six-over finish is especially impressive when you consider that only three players, all representing Stirling University, finished at par or lower.
Trim was the top finisher for Fordham, but he wasn’t the only individual to fare well. Senior Matt Schiller finished at nine-over to tie for 17th among all individual competitors. Senior James Mongey and sophomore Tomas Nieves both completed play at 23-over while junior Josh Madarang finished at 24-over. Representing Fordham but competing as an individual was junior Kyle Morris; he struggled to find his footing over the weekend, finishing at 44-over and last among qualifiers on the individual leaderboard.
The 12th-place finish was the second straight disappointing showing for the Rams.
“We had early success in the beginning of the season and I think our expectations might have been a little lofty over the last couple events,” said Trim. “I think we need to stay patient and stick to the game plans that worked very well for us at CCSU [Central Connecticut State University] and Hartford.”
There is hope, however, for the Rams. The team finished with a 14-over 294 on Sunday, which was third among all teams in the final round behind Yale and Stirling, who finished first and second, respectively, in the tournament.
The Rams have two tournaments remaining on their fall schedule: the Bucknell Invitational this weekend, and the Lehigh Invitational the weekend of Oct. 20. The team would assuredly like to right the ship before heading into its approximately five-month winter break.
