Over the weekend, the Fordham golf team took fifth place at the University of Connecticut Collegiate Invitational at Ellington Ridge Country Club. Their team total of 913 over the three-day event was 38 shots behind first-place Boston College, who went wire-to-wire for the victory. Sophomore John Kryscio led the way with a score of 223 (+7). His triple bogey on the par-five fifth hole knocked him down the leaderboard, landing him to a tie for ninth place. 

The course played tough this weekend, with chilly temperatures on Friday across the state and wind picking up throughout the weekend. None of the 78 players who participated in the tournament broke the three-day par of 216. The individual title went to Brandon Kewalaramani of Boston College with a score of 218. 

Fordham improved their standing from the year’s first tournament where they placed fifth out of seven in a one-day tournament hosted by the University of Hartford. They placed two spots and five strokes ahead of Hartford, who won their tournament last week. In seventh place, this was Hartford’s worst result of the season. They have two first place finishes and a tie for fourth back in March. 

This was another tournament without any A-10 competition in the field, but the Rams should take many positives from a weekend where they faced some of the East Coast’s top teams. Boston College, UConn, Temple University and Drexel University are all fantastic teams who competed at Ellington Ridge and the only ones that Fordham fell behind.

The Rams will head back to the Nutmeg State for another one-day event with Hartford at the Tumble Brook Invitational. A different course than last week, but they have some confidence coming off of a better result than the hosts. After the final leg in their Connecticut swing, they head to Pennsylvania for the final two events before the A-10 tournament. 

Two events in the season, Kryscio and sophomore Andreas Aivazoglou have led the Rams. Aivazoglou posted the lowest round of the season for Fordham with a final round 71 (-1) at UConn. Kryscio has the lowest round average on the team and has placed first or tied for first on the team in both events so far. The best part for the Rams is that both of those players are sophomores. Kryscio, the Illinois native, is in his first season with the squad and is only improving as he works toward leading the team for the next two seasons. This is Aivazoglou’s second season with the team but only his first playing events for the Rams. 

This Friday against Hartford will be imperative for the Rams as they head into the season’s final stretch. Considering this is a one-day event and the weather will be decidedly better, they could put together a great finish.

Fordham delivered their best performance this weekend since they had a first-place finish and two thirds in the 2017-18 season and finished near the bottom in each event the last two seasons. There is then reason to believe that this team can climb out of the basement of the A-10 tournament, where they placed the last time the tournament was held.