The Binghamton golf team finished its Midwest journey by placing 11th out of 17 teams in the field at the First Energy Intercollegiate in Akron, Ohio, at the Firestone Country Club. The Bearcats finished in a tie for fifth after 36 holes on Saturday, the first day of the tournament, but stumbled on Sunday to fall back to 11th overall.

Junior Zach Vinal tied for 30th individually out of 94 golfers with a 225 total score and recorded 11 birdies over 54 holes, third most in the field. Senior Jeff Wolniewicz shot 229 to tie for 46th place, senior Aaron Ungvarsky shot 230 to tie for 51st place, sophomore J.J. Shearer shot 231 to tie for 59th place and senior Tom Hackett shot 234 to tie for 69th place.

But the real mystery of the tournament was the sudden collapse of the Bearcats in the final round, one in which all five starters heavily struggled for a variety of reasons.

‘They struggled more individually than as a team, and maybe it was because of the mounting pressure of trying to get to the NCAA tournament because that was our goal from the beginning of the year,’ said head coach Nick Lasky. ‘Because we’ve struggled all spring, we hadn’t put ourselves in position to have our final round count for much, and when it finally did count for something, we didn’t know how to respond to it.’

The golf course was perhaps the most physically and mentally demanding course the Bearcats have played on this season. As pressure mounted, players began forcing themselves to attempt miraculous shots, which led to many unforced errors.

‘There wasn’t a single hole out there where you could sit back and relax, and just hit the ball in a general direction and hope for the best,’ Lasky said. ‘Every single shot, whether it was off the tee or approach shots to the green, required pinpoint accuracy from the players.’

The Bearcats were excellent off the tee during Saturday’s rounds, but struggled heavily off the tee during the final round. Because they were missing fairways on Sunday, the players were often forced to play for par or bogey as opposed to birdie or par. The players who tried to force the issue by attempting miraculous par-saving shots from off the fairway often paid the price with a double bogey or worse.

‘It was definitely a huge test of golf for us,’ Vinal said. ‘My first round was really solid and I was four under par through six holes in my second round, and then I four-putted hole 10 and triple bogeyed hole 11, and before I knew it, I was four over par.’