In their first two tournaments of the season, the Leopards golf team finished in 16th and 13th place. After this slow start to the season, the Leopards were looking to pick up some momentum at the Matthews Auto College Invitational this past weekend. They improved slightly as the team earned a tie for a tenth place finish out of 17 in the Invitational at Hiawatha Landing, with an average team round score of 304.

“We have only a few tournaments left in the fall season,” sophomore Jake Basilico wrote in an email. “We’re just looking to end on a high note. If we can carry some good momentum into the winter it’ll motivate us to get better.”

“Tournament at Binghamton was one that slipped away from many guys on the team,” freshman Brendan Cronin wrote in an email. “Course wasn’t playing too hard, we just didn’t perform well. We got the shorter end of the stick starting early on both days. But everyone came away from the tournament positive that they had learned something new about their game.”

Cronin shot 6-over par for the weekend, and finish tied for 26th. James Frahm tied for 42nd, shooting 10-over. Creighton Hendrix, Cole Berger, and Jake Basilico all shot 11-over for a 47th place tie. Trey Croney finished 12 over for a 56th place finish.

Basilico, who shot a 77 and 78 respectively, believes the team can do better.

“The tournament was mediocre for us,” he wrote in an email. “Some of us played well and some didn’t perform as well as they usually do. Personally, the tournament didn’t go as well as I would [have] liked.”

Next, the golf team travels to Connecticut to participate in the Connecticut Cup at Ellington Country Club. The following two weekends have the team facing a strong Lehigh team in a dual match and the Lehigh Fall Invitational. Lehigh placed in first at the Matthews Invitational this past weekend. Basilico is expecting a better performance when it comes to those tournaments.

“We’ve been doing our usual practice routine, but the team definitely knows what’s ahead,” Basilico wrote. “We are definitely ready to compete.”

Cronin believes that the team may be able to exceed expectations if they unlock their potential.

“Lehigh is going to be tough competition this year and we are definitely going into Presidents Cup and their tournament as the underdog,” he wrote. “We have as much potential on our team as theirs, we just all need to show up and play good golf.”

Going into the spring and future seasons, the golf team is looking to get better and compete against strong teams.

“We are a young team so the next few years look promising,” Basilico wrote. “We have a great Freshman class that can hopefully take over soon and move the team in the right direction.”

“We have a solid group of freshman this year,” Cronin said. “With two walk ons Creighton Hendrix and Alec Cweinkala we have 4 solid freshman including myself and Cole Berger. We have great upperclassmen leading us and hopefully the next 4 years bring us success as we begin to take over the ropes.”