With bad weather, a tough course and stiff competition last weekend at the MacDonald Cup, Binghamton head coach Bernie Herceg could have used a number of excuses for his team’s 11th-place showing. But Herceg would hear none of it.
“The course was in good shape; the weather wasn’t a factor,” he said. “It rained a little bit; there was no wind and it was very light rain. Golfers would rather play in a little bit of rain instead of the wind anyway.”
While having a consistent weekend, Binghamton could not keep up with the likes of nationally ranked Iowa State, and hometown favorite Yale. Binghamton shot a 293 the first day, 292 the second day and 291 in the final round. While Iowa State was expected to perform well (ranked No. 56 in the nation), Yale was able to pull out the win on their home course by three strokes. No other team finished with a score under +10.
“Some of the scores on some of the teams were phenomenal,” Herceg said. “I hope we get to play in more events with top teams. The better the competition the better we can be. There is an advantage to how much you play on a course. They know exactly where to place their shots. They had the experience to do well there. Having the crowd cheering them on was definitely a factor.”
Patrick Donovan led the way for Binghamton, shooting seven over par on the course, and a final round 69.
“He has some experience there, this is his last season,” said Herceg. “He likes the course. His ball striking was phenomenal. He only missed one fairway. He just had to putt a little bit better down the stretch.”
Jake Katz, who led the team last week in their first place finish at the Cornell Invitational, shot a 219 (+9).
“Jake has been our No. 1 player here for a couple weeks now,” Herceg said. “He had one bad hole there that really cost him, [and] the last day he just couldn’t get the putter rolling. The way Jake is hitting the ball, he is disappointed. He feels like he could have done better. He is a great competitor and a good leader.”
While Binghamton may have fallen behind this time, Herceg is definitely looking ahead to next week at the Philadelphia Big 5 Invitational.
“It’s a great event,” said Herceg. “It is only going to get better as it goes on. Hopefully we keep getting invited. It’s played on one of the oldest courses in the country. We have a little bit of experience there.”
For its next tournament, Binghamton will be taking freshman David Cellura.
“It’s [Cellura’s] first time, but the rest of the guys have some experience there,” said Herceg.
Herceg believes his team has a bit of work to do if they want to measure up to their level of play from two weeks ago and capture first at their next tournament.
“We will be working on tempo and timing, and the short game in particular,” he said. “The difference between schools that are higher than us is they are able to make the putts and were not. We are looking forward to next week.”