The Fordham golf team placed 11th out of the 16 teams at the two-day 54-hole Hartford Hawks Invite. The tournament was held at the Bull’s Bridge Golf Club in South Kent, CT with 16 teams from all over the East Coast. 

The University of Central Florida (UCF) took first place with a score of 829 (-35) over the span of three rounds. Johnny Trevale posted an incredible eight-under 64 in the third round to lead the way for the Knights. Trevale won the individual championship at 11-under by one shot, over his teammate Clement Charmasson. 

As for the Rams, junior PJ O’Rourke posted his career low for one round and three round scores. His second round 68 paced the Rams for the tournament, and his final score of 215 (-1) was good enough for a tie for 14th place. 

Junior John Kryscio continued his great play placing T-44 in the individual competition. His 225 (+9) is hardly his career-low but he brings the consistency the squad desperately needs heading into the spring season. His third round 77 brought him down the leaderboard, as he started the final round t-29 and ended 15 spots lower. 

Last week saw junior Andreas Aivazoglou shoot his career low with a 71 at the Ryan T Lee Memorial. This week, he shot two rounds in the 80s, 85 in round one and 82 in round two, with a two-over 74 sandwiched in between. He placed near the bottom of the individual leaderboard and will look to show that this week was the sore thumb, not last week. 

One sign of improvement the Rams showed this week was the improvement over rival Manhattan College. The “Battle of the Bronx” is usually saved for the hardwood, but the Rams took down the Jaspers by 27 shots after losing to them by 1 last week. This was once again a week with no Atlantic 10 competition for Fordham and that will continue next week. 

The Rams will head to the Yale Golf Club to play in the Macdonald Cup. The Bulldogs will play host to the Rams, fellow Ivy Leaguers Pennsylvania University, Princeton University, Harvard University, Cornell University and Dartmouth College, New York schools St. Bonaventure University, Colgate University and St. John’s University, two more Nutmeggers in the University of Hartford and Fairfield University and finally the Michigan Wolverines. In 2019, the Rams placed 11th out of 12 teams in the event and will look to improve in 2021’s 14 team field.

The Hartford Invite was a decent week for Fordham but more consistent play from the bottom of the lineup will help them throughout the season.