On Monday, the Binghamton golf team traveled to Glenside, Pennsylvania to compete in the Villanova Invitational. The Bearcats would earn a team score of 21 over par over the course of the weekend, good enough to maintain a ninth place finish out of 15 teams after both rounds.

“I think it was an okay weekend,” said Binghamton head coach Bernie Herceg. “There are still some things that we still need to work on. Our scoring shots, our putting skills could be a little more improved … Our scoring is a little bit more consistent, and I’m looking forward to going into next week that’s for sure.”

After the end of round one, BU was tied for ninth place with a total score of 13 over par. Senior Evan Sitts and sophomore Ryan Millevoi led the Bearcats in round one with scores of two over par. This result placed each of them in a tie for 25th going into day two. Freshmen Harrison Blech and Brandon Conner were not far behind as each Bearcat shot three over par to end round one tied for 34th. In addition, sophomore Shawn Colella shot five over par which tied him for 52nd place going into round two.

“[The younger guys have handled their role] very well,” Herceg said. “When they do play as a team, it’s a little bit different than just playing a tournament individually … so it puts a little more pressure on them, and that’s where having them play as many times as they have in the fall and in the spring, is just a great experience for them going forward for us.”

On day two, Binghamton finished with a score of 292, which gave them a final score of 589 for the invitational, securing ninth place in the tournament. Conner was the top finisher for the Bearcats, shooting an impressive two-under par round on day two which shot him up the leaderboard 23 spots from his day-one position. Conner ended the weekend one over par which was good enough for a tied-for 11th-place finish.

“[Conner’s] work ethic, attitude and mindset are really paying off in a more of a tournament-type atmosphere,” Herceg said. “He’s trained well, he’s worked hard and it’s really shown. His consistency has been great … he’s been having a great spring.”

Millevoi was able to replicate his success on day one shooting a 73 again to finish the weekend with a score of four over par. This allowed him to jump up two spots as he finished tied for 23rd place. Additionally, Blech jumped up two spots on day two with a round of 74, ending with a final score of six over par. This secured him a tied for 2nd place finish.

“We’re a younger team,” Herceg said. “[Millevoi] played as an individual … he really showed where his game is progressing to which is great. Also [Blech], one of our freshmen, really played well this week, scored a little bit better, ball striking was a lot better. So definitely helps us going forth for the next tournament and going into conference. ”

BU’s combined score was 21 over par at the end of two rounds, with the Bearcats shooting eight shots better on the second day, resulting in a ninth place finish overall. Villanova took first place in the tournament, just barely defeating La Salle with a final team score of even par.

“A little more course knowledge helped [from round one to round two],” Herceg said. “Course knowledge really helped to know kind of where to place the ball on the green but also getting used to the pace of the greens. We haven’t really been able to practice a lot outside on greens that are kind of really good and have a lot of pace to it.”

BU will return to Pennsylvania to participate in the Lafayette Invitational beginning on Saturday, April 15 to Monday, April 17. Tee times are scheduled to start at 8 a.m. in Easton, Pennsylvania.