After posting a team score of 289 (+9) in the final round, the Binghamton University golf team finished tied for eighth place at The McLaughlin on Sunday. BU finished the 16-team tournament with a 54-hole total of 868 (+28).

Binghamton head coach Bernie Herceg said he was pleased with how his players accounted for themselves despite their limited experience with the course at Bethpage.

“We haven’t played at The McLaughlin in a while as a team,” Herceg said. “Overall, it was a good performance. We were very consistent; but it would’ve been nice if we had a couple of the players shoot some better scores to get under par going into the third round after we got a little more comfortable with the golf course. There were a lot of positives to take from the event and we’ll build off that going into the Cornell [University] event [on Saturday and Sunday].”

Senior David Cellura secured 15th place after shooting a team-best 69 on Sunday, making him one of 13 players to record an under-par third round. Junior Bryce Edmister finished tied for 31st.

Herceg said that while he was impressed by Cellura’s performance, he still believes there is room for improvement.

“It was a good tournament for him being tied for 15th [place],” Herceg said. “He is a very consistent player and every once in a while we see some under par round out of him. He shot 69 for his last round and it could have been better than that. But he was really striking the ball well and I am really looking forward to seeing how well he performs the rest of the season because I think the tournament really got him on track.”

Freshman Jesse Perkins, who led the Bearcats on day one with a score of 71, shot a 73 and 74 on the final two days, respectively, to finish in 36th place.

Auburn University, ranked sixth nationally, won the tournament by 11 strokes, posting a 54-hole total of 830. University of Louisville finished second with a final score of 841.

The Bearcats are set to travel to Ithaca, N.Y. to play at the Cornell Invitational on Saturday and Sunday. Herceg said he is hopeful that his team will continue to dominate at the event, which it has won three years in a row.

“We are really excited and looking forward to the event,” Herceg said. “We … are looking to hopefully four-peat. I think the course will be playing very fair, and it’s a good course for us because we have had some history there on the positive side.”