By Jimmy Sullivan

The Fordham golf team had a lot of talent to replace after last spring.

The team’s star-studded troika of seniors — James Mongey, Joseph Trim and Matt Schiller — all graduated in May, and they left big shoes to fill. In fact, the three men finished their Fordham careers with the first, second and third-lowest scoring averages in the history of Fordham’s golf program and no, that is not a misprint.

And without Mongey, Schiller and Trim, it was a rough first semester for the Rams in 2018-19.

Fordham never finished in the top half of a tournament last fall, and the Rams came in last in back-to-back tournaments in September and October. Senior Josh Madarang finished with an average round of 73.4, the best on the team. He has tried to step into the leadership role left by last year’s seniors, and will continue to do so in the spring.

“I have tried to encourage my teammates to play better no matter how good or bad they are playing,” Madarang says. “I think I have also done a good job of keeping things laid-back and fun at practices and tournaments.”

The other senior on the team, Thomas Hayes, is looking to rebound from an up-and-down fall season, one that saw him fire a low round of 70 at the MacDonald Cup and a high round of 86 at the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Championship four weeks later. The other two Rams to keep their average rounds under 80 were fellow sophomores Anthony Wells and Mithran Denbow; both also had best rounds of 73. Additionally, Wells, Denbow, Hayes and Madarang were the four golfers to compete in all of Fordham’s fall tournaments.

As we have seen, consistency was an issue for Fordham in the fall, and the team is trying to change that in the spring.

“I think the team realized we have to eliminate big numbers from our scorecards by missing the ball in better spots,” Madarang says. “Managing our misses will help consistency.”

Besides the aforementioned athletes, there are other interesting pieces at head coach Paul Dillon’s disposal this spring. Freshman and Bronx native Aidan Denning competed in 11 of Fordham’s 13 rounds and finished the season with an average score just under 81. After not competing last season, sophomore Dean Cerimido competed in six rounds but struggled and never shot below an 81. Also returning is freshman Billy Harrison, who competed at the Lehigh Invitational and shot an 84 and an 85.

In the fall, the Fordham golf team felt the losses of the three best statistical golfers in its history. These departures reverberated throughout the fall season, and the team never quite recovered from them.

Now, the Rams will try to match, if not improve, last year’s seventh-place finish in the A-10 Tournament. Just like it did in the fall, Paul Dillon’s team has a lot of work to do.