When describing his team’s performance this past weekend, the first word out of new Binghamton University men’s golf head coach Bernie Herceg’s mouth was, “awesome.”

The men’s golf team opened up their fall 2008 schedule in Piscataway, N.J., over the weekend with an impressive third place finish out of 24 teams in the Rutgers Invitational. The Bearcats finished the weekend with a two-day team score of 569, one over par and two strokes behind tournament champion Seton Hall.

Binghamton’s performance was even more spectacular considering the rainy weather conditions the team faced during the first round.

“On Friday afternoon it came down hard. The rain gear had to come out,” Herceg said. “But the guys came together and hung in there on the back nine.”

Binghamton finished with a first-day total of 287, which put them tied for fourth place going into the second round.

Consistency was the motto for the second day according to Coach Herceg, as the Bearcats improved on their first-day efforts by firing a team score of 282. Each of the five golfers shot 74 or below, giving Binghamton the second-best team score of the day, propelling them into third place for the tournament.

The Bearcats were as impressive individually as they were as a team this weekend. Junior Mike Corbo led the way for Binghamton, carding scores of 70 and 69 to finish three strokes under par, which was good enough to finish tied for runner-up individual score. Sophomore Jake Katz posted a team-low score of 68 on Saturday, putting him tied for seventh place in the tournament. Senior J.J. Shearer led the way on Friday with a score of 69 en route to an 11th place finish. Sophomore Andrew Marler and junior Patrick Donovan also scored for the Bearcats, finishing with two-day scores of 147 and 151, respectively.

Binghamton swings back into action this weekend at Seven Oaks Golf Course in Hamilton, N.Y., for the Colgate Invitational, before heading to Massachusetts to compete in the America Sky Conference Championship at the end of the month.