Monday, September 19, 2011

St. Bonaventure sports

St. Bonaventure University Athletic News

OLEAN, N.Y. – Senior Kevin Lewis shot a team-best 71, and the St. Bonaventure golf team finished in fifth place following the opening round of the 23rd Annual Leo Keenan Invitational on Sunday at Bartlett Country Club.

Robert Morris leads the 11-team field after shooting a team total of 285. That total is tied for the lowest 18-hole performance in RMU program history, and is the second-best first round team performance in Keenan history.

While the Bonnies find themselves in fifth place, they are just three shots behind second-place Drexel, which shot an opening-round 294. Humber, a Canadian school, is third with a 295, and Cornell checks in at fourth with a 296. The Brown and White has a four-shot lead over sixth-place Long Island (301).

After firing a 34 on the front nine – tied for the best opening nine of the 63 competitors – Lewis shot a 37 on the back to finish 1-over and tied for fourth overall. If not for a triple-bogey 7 on hole 16, the Henrietta, N.Y. native would have been in line to finish as the low individual following the opening round. Instead, that honor goes to Fairmont State's Jess Ferrell, who shaped a 4-under 66 out of the 6,308-yard course.

The 66 – which included a 31 on the back – is tied for the second-lowest 18-hole score in Keenan history, bested only by a 64 from Siena's Bryan Bigley in 2006. Ferrell was the lone person to break par on the opening day.

Sophomore Chris Mackey, playing in his second Keenan, finished second on the Bona roster after shooting a 3-over 73. That total leaves the Bradford, Pa. product tied for 13th overall after playing out of the No. 4 position for head coach John Powers.

Junior Greg Horvath bounced back from a 41 on the front nine to respond with an Even-par back nine to finish tied for 25th and third on the Brown and White with a 76. One shot behind him is classmate Brian McKenna who finished with a 77, a total matched by sophomore and Olean native Scott Brady.

Playing as individuals – meaning their scores do not factor in the overall St. Bonaventure team total – freshmen Pierce Terrance, Daniel Dunnigan and Brian Jurkiewicz finished with scores of 76, 78 and 82, respectively. Terrance's 76 is tied for 25th overall, and ranks as the second-lowest score amongst the eight individuals.

Playing at 420 yards, the dogleg right par-4 sixth hole gave players the most issues on Sunday, as it played nearly a shot over par at 4.87. The hole yielded just three birdies all day, and there were more bogeys (25) than pars (21).

The par-5 uphill second hole gave players the next most trouble, playing just slightly easier than the sixth at a stroke average of 5.81. Just three birdies were made on the hole Sunday, while competitors sunk only 19 pars – the fewest amount of pars on any hole on the course.

While the first par-5 gave players fits, the second – and last – par-5 14th played as the easiest hole at 4.77, yielding three eagles. The short, downhill 319-yard par-4 17th issued the most birdies (21) of any hole, and was one of just three to play under par (3.84).

Because of wet conditions, players were allowed to mark their ball, pick it up and replace it within one club length on all lies save for bunkers. The same rules will be in effort to Monday's final round. Action tees off with a shotgun start beginning at 9:15 a.m.




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