By Sam Belden

Fordham golf’s spring season does not begin until March 30, but the team members have been hard at work to stay in shape for the five event sprint that culminates with the Atlantic 10 Championship at the end of April.

“In terms of preparation for the spring, we stay active in the gym with aspirations to be like ‘Long John’ Daly,” said senior Ben Alcorn, referring to the professional golfer known for his remarkable length off the tee.

Whether or not they can break any distance records remains to be seen. Even so, the team under the leadership of head coach Paul Dillon, is looking to build off of a strong finish to the fall. At the Temple Invitational, the team’s penultimate event of 2014, the Rams finished in 10th place out of 14 strong squads. A week later, buoyed by Alcorn’s closing 69, they finished in a remarkable fourth place at the Lehigh Invitational.
Alcorn, who fell just one stroke short of earning medalist honors at Lehigh, should be one of the team’s key contributors this spring.

If the Rams are to perform well this spring, then more finishes like that runner-up will be optimal. Fellow senior Jeff Hogan should be another. A trio of top 25 finishes highlighted a successful start to his senior year. These two, along with seniors Brian Engstrom and Drew Dufresne, will be the elder statesmen of this season’s squad.

Meanwhile, the team has reason to look forward to the future. “I hope [the freshmen] can contribute as much as possible,” said freshman Joseph Trim, whose fall campaign was highlighted by a top 25 at Lehigh. “The team, as a whole, is fairly young, and with three of us getting into tournaments during the fall season, we can be a strong asset during our spring season.”

Fellow freshmen Matt Schiller and James Mongey will also look to become more regular contributors to the team. Furthermore, sophomores Fernando Morett, Oscar Cabanas and Hugh Lagrotteria all played meaningful holes for the Rams last fall and will look to do the same this year.

While Fordham golf is a non-scholarship program that mostly competes against scholarship programs, hopes are still high. “We are all talented players and think we can make some noise this spring,” said Alcorn.

For Alcorn, it is important that the team fine-tunes its game in the weeks leading up to the first event. “As always, practice is key to success,” he said. “We’ll be spending spring break in Florida practicing every day. The more we practice, the better we will perform.”
Next month, the team will begin its season in Pennsylvania. The players will then travel to tournaments in New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island before finishing up at the A-10 Championship in Florida.