After a ninth place finish out of 11 schools in the Atlantic 10 Championship this past spring, the Fordham golf team is looking to take a step forward in conference play. Despite an underwhelming finish to last season, there were many positives that will carry over into 2022-23. First, the youth and performance of this team last year is an encouraging sign of a step in the right direction. Fordham Golf had only one senior, Ryan Davis, on their roster last season with four of six returning golfers being juniors Andres Aivazoglou, John Kryscio, Nicholas Manning and P.J. O’Rourke. Three of these four current seniors had a best round of par or better during some point last season with the exception of Manning whose best round was a 73 in the MacDonald Cup. Kryscio’s best round was an even 72, which he did twice at the Ryan Lee Memorial. Aivazoglou shot a 70 in his first round of the MacDonald Cup the weekend of Sept. 25-26. Possibly the best golfer on the team, O’Rourke was the only Fordham golfer to break 70 when he shot a 68 at the Bull’s Bridge Golf Club in the Hartford Invite. O’Rourke also led the Fordham Golf roster in par or better finishes with four rounds in which he shot 72 or lower. O’Rourke is the clear leader of this team as he led Fordham Golf in strokes per round average with a 74.5, but the now senior has a solid supporting cast of returning sophomores and juniors going into the 2022-23 season. 

This supporting cast includes two sophomores, Jake Mrva and Garrett Brown, who appeared in two outings respectively during the 2021-22 season. Mrva, a Massachusetts native, first played in the Lehigh Invitational where he shot his season best 77 in the second round of the outing. The sophomore also appeared in the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Championship in early November at Montclair Golf Club. The other returning sophomore is Garrett Brown out of West Hartford, Connecticut. Brown competed in the Hartford Invite and the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Championship during his freshman campaign. Brown’s best round was the very

first collegiate round he teed off in during the Hartford Invite where he shot a 78. Both Mrva and Brown had less than 300 strokes in their freshman season, but you expect those numbers to increase this campaign. With more strokes comes more room for improvement. 

The keys for Fordham Golf this upcoming season will be getting sophomores Mrva and Brown more strokes and overall consistency from the four returning seniors Aivazoglou, Kryscio, Manning and O’Rourke. With Mrva and Brown taking a step forward on this team and the seniors posting similar or even better rounds as last year, Fordham Golf will see great progression from the 2021-22 season. The 2022-23 schedule has not been released as of right now but should be on the way in the coming days.