The Binghamton University golf team’s Navy Spring Invitational tournament at the U.S. Naval Academy Golf Course, just outside Baltimore, was cut short last weekend due to snow showers that rendered the course unplayable. The first round on Friday, the only playable round, was used to determine team placements.

St. Bonaventure placed first out of 25 teams with a score of 300 and the Bearcats placed 12th with a score of 313. Junior Zach Vinal tied for sixth individually out of 130 golfers, with a 3-over-par 74 to lead the team. Senior Jeff Wolniewicz shot 78, senior Aaron Ungvarsky shot 80, sophomore J.J. Shearer shot 81 and senior Tom Hackett finished with an 84.

When the Bearcats teed off at 7:30 a.m., the playing conditions were brutally cold with heavy rain and gusting winds. When St. Bonaventure teed off later that afternoon the harsh conditions had greatly subsided, with the weather a good 15 to 20 degrees warmer and the gusting winds reduced.

After a round of 3-over-par 74, Vinal said to head coach Nick Lasky that he felt he shot the best round of his entire life, which very adequately explains just how tough the weather conditions were.

‘It was so cold out and freezing out there, and with the way I was hitting the ball, I honestly felt like I shot a 5-under 67,’ Vinal said. ‘But I felt that everyone will probably play worse and not concentrate as much, and I saw that as an opportunity to concentrate even more than usual to play better and beat everyone else.’

But given the morning conditions the Bearcats were forced to play in that later teams were not, the team remains optimistic.

‘Under the morning conditions we were forced to play in, we didn’t even play that poorly,’ Lasky said. ‘Out of all the teams that went out with us real early in the morning when conditions were toughest, we didn’t lose to any of those teams.’

This weekend, the Bearcats will head to Providence, R.I., for the New England Championship at the Triggs Memorial Golf Course, featuring the biggest Binghamton rivals such as Yale, Hartford, Boston College and top-seeded Rhode Island.

‘This will be really significant for us to try and re-establish our place at the top of the district,’ Lasky said. ‘No matter what we did in Towson or Navy, whether we finished first or last, we always have to play well in the New England Championship against our biggest rivals.’

Last year, the Bearcats rose to the challenge and came out victorious, and will look to defend their title and possibly oust top-seeded Rhode Island for the No. 1 ranking.

‘Our fiercest competition is playing very well right now,’ Lasky said. ‘Rhode Island has played well all year, Boston College is ranked high and on a roll, Harvard won a tournament a few weeks ago and Yale has played very well in the last three tournaments.’

The weather forecast is 42 degrees with a 70 percent chance of rain. The Bearcats will be Jeff Wolniewicz at one, Aaron Ungvarsky at two, Vinal at three, J.J. Shearer playing fourth and Ryan Gabel, playing in his first major tournament, at five.

‘We’ve had a tough start this spring, but it’s not too late to turn things around and regain the No. 1 ranking,’ Wolniewicz said. ‘Since we played so well and dominated in the fall, we fell back from our winner instincts and played defensively instead of offensively thus far. We need to regain that same killer instinct we possessed in the fall that enabled us to do so well.’