By Jimmy Sullivan

Fordham Golf had a rough fall. The Rams were unable to finish in the top ten of any of their events and Fordham profoundly felt the sting of losing Matt Schiller, Joseph Trim and James Mongey to graduation last year.

Unfortunately for head coach Paul Dillon’s team, it has picked up right where it left off in the fall.

Fordham finished 14th out of 20 teams at the Coca-Cola Lehigh Valley Invite this past Sunday and Monday. The Rams got off to a rough start on Sunday, as they limped into the clubhouse in a tie for 16th place after 18 holes. Senior Josh Madarang and junior Tomas Nieves, who missed the entire 2018 season, paced Fordham with rounds of 74 and 75, respectively. After those two standouts, though, it was tough sledding for the Rams. Senior Tommy Hayes shot a nine-over 81, while freshman Billy Harrison and sophomore Anthony Wells also struggled to the tune of an 82 and an 83.

The Rams dug themselves into a very deep hole on Sunday. They were unable to climb out of it in the second round on Monday.

Madarang led the charge for Fordham and came in a tie for sixth in individual scoring with his round of 70 on Monday. Nieves also continued his strong play and finished at +4 after shooting a 73 in the second round. However, the continued success of Madarang and the return of Nieves were the lone bright spots of the tournament for Fordham; Hayes finished at +15, Harrison was +19 after 36 holes and Wells’ final-round 81 left him near the bottom of the tournament leaderboard at +20.

Madarang says that it wasn’t all bad news for Fordham. “It was nice to see that guys don’t get too down on themselves when they play badly and can bounce back easily,” he said.

The Fordham senior was also encouraged by his individual performance, which left him just three strokes behind the tournament’s individual winner, Bucknell University’s Chris Tanabe. That being said, he still sees room for improvement, saying he needs to “stay focused” on his game to get better.

Dillon also submitted freshman Justin Pellegrino to compete as an individual, and he struggled, too. He did show some positive signs, though, and followed up his first-round 86 with a round of 82 to finish his tournament.

After their rough start to the spring slate, Fordham will travel to Malvern, Penn. to participate in the Wildcat Invitational next Monday and Tuesday.