The Binghamton golf team played its final event of the season, placing seventh in the America Sky Championship at the Dominion Country Club in San Antonio, TX. The three-day tournament concluded on Wednesday.
The Bearcats finished with a 54-hole team score of 900 at the par 72 course, leaving them 29 strokes behind first-place finisher Houston Baptist.
Junior Bryce Edmister, who endured a few bad holes in the final round, finished in 10th place with a score of 218 (+2) after leading the field through the first two days.
BU entered the final round of play on Wednesday in seventh place and, after shooting a team score of 299 (+11), finished the day in the same position.
“Overall, I think it was a little bit discouraging for the guys,” Binghamton head coach Bernie Herceg said. “I know they felt they were going to play better, and so did I, but they played better in the last round as a team. They came back a little bit score-wise and I know they felt a little bit better about that.”
After trailing second round leaders Southern Utah by a stroke, the Huskies of Houston Baptist bested the Thunderbirds by four strokes in the final round to win the championship by a three-stroke margin. With the win, the Huskies earned the league’s NCAA team bid.
Sacramento State’s Jordan Weir finished with a 54-hole total of 213 (-3) to win the individual medalist honor. He outplayed Houston Baptist’s Preston Stanley by a single stroke to secure the title.
While Edmister cruised through the first two days of the tournament, a quadruple bogey on the par 4 fourth hole in the final round bumped him from first place to seventh place. He played one-under golf through his next 11 holes to keep him in the hunt, but bogeys on two of his last three holes dropped him to a final round score of 77.
Despite his tumultuous final round, it marked the sixth time this season that Edmister placed with a top-10 finish. His scoring average of 74.5 in 2012-13 was a team-best.
“[Leading after two rounds] was a great accomplishment,” Herceg said. “He just had a couple of bad holes that cost him and they were tough to make up. Sometimes, that’s golf. But I think he’ll learn from it and he’ll be in a position again some day soon to win an event.”
Senior David Cellura concluded his career at Binghamton with a 27th place finish after tying three others at 226. In his four years as a Bearcat, Cellura earned four top-10 finishes and ten top-20 finishes.
“David’s been our captain and he was just a great, solid player for us for the four years,” Herceg said. “He was very consistent throughout his career and I think he played in every single event for us, except maybe one. He’s got great character and is a person of great integrity, and that’s what this sport is about.”
Sophomore Jack Sedgewick led the Bearcats on Wednesday with a final round core of 73 (+1). He finished with a three-round score of 229, good for a tie for 35th place.
Freshman Jesse Perkins and sophomore Josh Holling each shot 234 to finish in a tie for 43rd.
The Bearcats finished their 2012-13 season with three event wins and six top-5 finishes. Their 229.8 scoring average was the fourth lowest in program history.
“Overall, it was a good year,” Herceg said. “We’re going to definitely see all the positives that we had this past year carry over into next year and we’ll see what we can do. We’re really looking forward to 2013-14.”