After an exciting two days of play, the Binghamton University golf team finished in sixth place at the Adams Cup this past Tuesday. This, following a solid seventh-place performance out of 18 teams last weekend at the Missouri Tiger Intercollegiate, has given head coach Bernie Herceg reason to be proud of his team.
‘To beat a couple of the teams that we did was great, but that’s the potential of our team to do that week in and week out,’ Herceg said. ‘The guys are really coming together and playing well.’
Playing at the Newport National Golf Course in Newport, Rhode Island, the Bearcats came into the third round of play ranking ninth out of 17 teams, after having to contend with severe wind conditions in an 11-hour first day of play. The Bearcats pulled out a strong performance in the third round of play, tallying the third-best team score of the day and pushing them to sixth place overall, ahead of nationally-ranked teams such as Villanova University and Yale University.
At the front of the BU third-round push was senior co-captain Andrew Marler, who shot his lowest round of competitive collegiate golf in his career with a 3-under 69. He finished the tournament with a tie for the lowest single round score of the tournament, as well as his lowest career tournament total ever.
‘Andrew hit the ball extraordinary all week, and really the first two rounds got nothing out of it, but his final round he really came through. Finishing with a 69 was just phenomenal,’ Herceg said.
Herceg also distinguished senior co-captain Jake Katz for his solid performance, as he fought back from +4 part of the way through the third round for a +2 on the day and a final score of 220. That was good for eighth place overall in the tournament, his sixth-straight top 10 finish.
‘He’s just a rock out there, always consistent,’ Herceg said of Katz. ‘His level of play just stands way above so many golfers out there. I always look forward to watching him play.’
Also noted was first-time collegiate player, freshman Bryce Edmister of Webster, N.Y.
‘He fought his way back and played good second and third rounds, which was very good to see,’ Herceg said of his player. ‘I’m looking for great things out of him for his four years at Binghamton University.’
Herceg was more than content with his team’s performance at Newport and is very optimistic for the remaining four tournaments in the fall season.
‘We had a great finishing round, and that’s the capability our team has, to shoot those numbers,’ he said. ‘It was great to see, giving us some confidence for the remainder of the season.’
The next tournament for the Bearcats is the Cornell Invitational, scheduled for this weekend in Ithaca. Play is set to begin on Saturday at 8 a.m.