The Fordham golf team began their season at Hop Meadow Country Club in Simsbury, Connecticut as part of the Ryan T Lee Memorial. The Rams placed in a tie for 10th with a total score of 594 (+18), just one shot behind rival Manhattan College, who took ninth. 

Boston College was the only team of the 16 at the event to shoot under par, a score of 572 (-4) for the tournament and 281 (-7) on the second day. Fairleigh Dickinson University came in second at even par followed by Sacred Heart University, Long Island University and a tie between Fairfield University and Hartford University to round out the top five. 

In terms of the individual competition, senior Ryan Davis and junior John Kryscio tied for ninth overall with a two round score of 144 (E). Davis fired a one-under 71 to bring his score down to par, while Kryscio shot matching 72’s to maintain an even par score throughout. The low round of the week for the Rams was 71, shot by Davis and junior Andreas Aivazoglou on Sunday. Aivazoglou’s 11-shot turnaround was a huge part of Fordham’s climb up the leaderboard from 12th to T10 between the two rounds. 

The individual champion was Boston College’s Mac Lee with a 139 (-5) over the course of the two days. He shot the low round of the tournament, along with Siena College’s Matt Ferrari and Bryant University’s Tyler Hahn, with a five-under 67.

This was an overall positive performance for the Rams, who had two players finish among the top of the heap. However, it is the lack of consistency that continues to plague them. Now that the team has seen Aivazoglou fire a low round and newcomer Davis play to Kryscio’s level, they know what to expect going into the Hartford Hawks Invitational next week. The other two players at the event were juniors P.J. O’Rourke and captain Nicholas Manning, who finished T72 and T78, respectively. 

The Hartford Hawks Invitational will happen over two days on Monday, Sept. 20 and Tuesday, Sept. 21. The 54-hole tournament takes place annually — last year excluded — at Bull’s Bridge Golf Club in South Kent, Connecticut, one of the top courses in the state. The Rams came in 14th out of the 16 teams at the event in 2019.

This is a solid start for the Rams. Despite no Atlantic 10 competition, Fordham topped some strong local teams and played a great round on Sunday. They are off to a solid start in their five-event fall schedule and will look to improve on their position and play more consistently as the fall slate pushes along.