After hitting a tournament-low 69 in the first round, junior Kyle Wambold stumbled into the back nine of the final round of the Wildcat Invitational by shooting three consecutive bogies. In a tight race with Villanova sophomore Andrew MacMillan, Wambold regained his composure and shot one-under through the final six holes to win the individual title. His performance led the Binghamton golf team to a tie for fourth place of 21 teams and a two-round aggregate score of 601(+33).

“We had three guys that played really solid in the final round,” BU head coach Bernie Herceg said. “Especially Kyle [Wambold], how he played down the stretch, managing the course and pulling off quality shots.”

Cleveland State came out on top, shooting 593(+25) for the tournament to finish six strokes ahead of second-place Lehigh. MacMillan finished second for the individual crown, scoring 145(+3) and was trailed by a seven-way tie for third place one stroke back.

Wambold’s invitational winning 143(+1) for BU was followed closely by freshman Jack Faraci, who shot 147(+5) and finished in 10th place and senior Jesse Perkins, who shot 149(+7) and finished tied for 14th place. Rounding out the Bearcats’ scoring total was junior Sameer Kalia and freshman Zak Ottman, both of whom finished 90th in the field of 114 and tallied 162(+20). BU freshman Gray Potter, who played as an individual, shot 162(+20).

After the tournament concluded, Herceg said that weather conditions could have played a role in the weekend’s results.

“The conditions of the course were excellent,” Herceg said. “But the weather conditions were very, very windy. You could see a lot of the scores after the turn just went up.”

It was the lack of depth of the BU squad that held it back from earning the overall team crown. The top three Bearcat golfers, Wambold, Faraci and Perkins, shot a combined 439, an average score of 143 and shot a lower score than the top three players of any of the other team, finishing five strokes ahead of Colgate, whose top three players shot 444. The remaining two players on the Bearcats’ roster, however, ranked a combined 14th among the two highest-scoring golfers on each team to take Binghamton out of first place contention.

Wambold began his tournament-high first round with three consecutive bogies before firing three birdies over the remaining 15 holes followed by an eagle on the par-five 17th hole to take a one-shot lead over a three way tie for second into the final round.

Wambold tied a career-low of 69 en route to his second collegiate tournament win and Big Sky Conference Co-Golfer of the Week honors.

Binghamton teed off again this past weekend at the Lehigh Valley Collegiate Invitational, hosted by Lafayette. Led by Wambold for the second straight tournament, BU scored 610(+32), finishing second and nine shots behind first-place Fordham. Wambold shot a one-under-par 70 in the final round of play on his way to a third place finish, scoring 148(+6). The Bearcats’ scorecard was rounded out by Perkins and Ottman who both shot 155(+13).

The Bearcats are set to finish regular season play at the Rutherford Invitational, hosted by Penn State. First tee is set for April 16 from University Park, Pennsylvania.