Over the weekend, the Binghamton golf team made the trip down to Berlin, Maryland to compete in the Battle at Rum Point. Despite ending day one of competition in 11th place, the Bearcats dropped one spot on day two to finish the tournament in 12th place with a total score of 27 over par.

“Overall it was good to compete again,” said Binghamton head coach Bernie Herceg. “We got done with our last tournament, and we’re not being able to play and get out on a golf course and stuff. So it was great to get down there [on] green grass and compete. So that respect, it was good. The entire team needs to play, so it was good I was able to take the whole team.”

After the end of round one, BU sat in 11th place with a combined score of 10 over par. Freshman Brandon Conner spearheaded the Bearcats’ scoring with a one-under showing on day one. This result placed him in a tie for 17th going into round two.

“[Conner] had a great round yesterday played really solid, really consistent,” Herceg said. “And the whole weekend really played consistent all weekend, and today had a really solid, good round. Striking was really good, and if he putted it a little bit better, he would have been a bit better than what he had.”

Fellow freshman Sean Shen was not far behind as he posted an even par round of 72 which was good enough to tie for 24th overall. Senior Evan Sitts finished round one in 37th place, shooting two over par with a total score of 74. Additionally, sophomores Shawn Colella and Tynan Jones finished near each other as they turned in scores of 76 and 77, respectively.

Day two saw Binghamton falter a bit, shooting 17 over par as a team and totaling 603 strokes. Sitts was the top finisher for the Bearcats as he registered an even par round that shot him up 17 spots from his day one position. Sitts ended the weekend two over par with a tied-for 20th-place finish.

[Sitt’s] is our captain,” Herceg said. “And he’s definitely the leader of the team when it comes to being the captain, but he kind of shows it from his work ethic, and playing mostly all our events. Because he’s played in them, and especially this one, he’s had some success here at Rum Pointe in the past, so that definitely carried over and I think he had some good feelings going into it because of that.”

Conner could not repeat the success he had on day one as he shot five over and dropped 16 spots to finish tied for 30th. Shen shot a six-over round of 78 in round two to earn a 45th-place finish. Shen’s score did not contribute to the team’s total as the Bearcat participated in this tournament as an individual.

Jones improved his position by two spots, carding a 76 and ending the tournament tied for 58th. Colella dropped 12 spots, following up his day one score with a seven-over round of 79 to finish tied for 66th.

“We have a lot of talent getting more and more experience,” Herceg said. “And that’s why I’m trying to get everybody to play as much as possible. Even when we go to these events to bring some individuals because the more these younger guys compete and play, they’re just going to, in the future for us, really be strong. So [I’m] looking forward to it.”

BU combined for a score of 17 over par on day two which was seven strokes worse than their performance on day one. This led to a 12th-place finish for the Bearcats who turned in a final score of 27 over par. Long Island University took the tournament with a dominant showing, carding a 15 under-par performance beating second place by 14 strokes.

“The biggest thing is the weather up here just hasn’t been the best for getting out and playing golf because no golf courses are open,” Herceg said. “Now that I think the golf courses are going to open here next week, it’s really going to play into you know, having everybody’s game a little bit more sharper getting into the month of April.”

BU returns to action at the Villanova Invitational on Monday, April 10. Tee times are scheduled for 8 a.m. in Glenside, Pennsylvania.