The GW golf team finished in the middle of the pack in Monday’s Rehoboth Beach Invitational in Delaware, with the A team finishing fourth and the B team finishing sixth. GW started all 10 of its golfers at the tournament. Only the A team’s results counted towards the Atlantic 10 standings.
GW head coach Scott Allen said the team was disappointed with their fourth-place finish, even though it was better than their last-place showing at the James Madison Invitational the previous week.
University of Binghamton (597) won the tournament, with U.S. Naval Academy (602) and Iona University (605) finishing ahead of GW (606) in second and third place. GW’s A team was three shots off the lead in third place after the first round of the one-day, 36-hole tournament but faltered in the second round, ending up four shots behind the Midshipmen.
Sophomore Ameet Patil had the best individual finish for GW, playing on the B team with a 76 and a 75 to place 10th overall. It was the first top-10 finish of his career.
Allen said the par 72, 6,615-yard course at the Kings Creek Country Club suited Patil’s game well. While the sophomore’s game is not long, it is accurate, and Allen said he did a good job of staying out of trouble on the short and narrow course.
Allen also credited Patil’s mental toughness for carrying him through both rounds.
“He doesn’t get too worked up with a bad shot,” he said. “And at this course, that’s important.”
Freshman Federico Guzman and junior Charles Taylor also played well for the Colonials. Each shot 152 for the tournament, but the pair took two very different routes to their 13th place finishes.
Allen said Guzman had stromboli with extra jalapenos at the team dinner the night before and that the meal did not sit well, resulting in a poor first round Monday (team-high 80). But after lunch, Allen said he had a talk with the Columbian native, and Guzman responded in the second round with a team-low 72.
Taylor began the day by shooting a one-under-par 71, the team’s lowest first round score. But during the second round, Allen said Taylor’s putter deserted him, and the junior got frustrated, shooting a nine-over-par 81.
Senior co-captains Reid Rosenthal (75) and Brad Friedlander (76) both shot well in the first round, but neither could get anything going in the second round. Rosenthal ended with an 81 in the afternoon and Friedlander finished with a 77.
Allen said that despite the team fading in the second round, it was nice to be back in contention. The team will play next in the Temple Owl Invitational Oct. 4 and 5 at Glenmaura National Golf Club in Scranton, Pa. With several A-10 teams on the field, Allen said it will be a good measuring stick to see how the team is progressing.
