Coming off a fifth-place finish at the SHU Spring Break Invitational, Binghamton traveled to Worthington Manor Golf Club in Urbana, Maryland to take part in the Carpetbagger Classic, finishing seventh out of 12 teams and capping off the weekend with a score of 610/34 over par.

“The winds really picked up [on Sunday],” said Binghamton head coach Bernie Herceg. “We’d rather have rain and cold than how windy it was. Because it got so windy, we weren’t able to make a comeback. Even if we played great, you just can’t make a lot of birdies out there — you’re just grinding out pars.”

The Bearcats’ performance on day one ended in a tie for fourth place as the team finished with a score of 304/16 over par. Fifth-year Evan Sitts led the way for BU with a score of 74/2 over par — just missing the top 10 on individual leaderboard.

“Sitts played very solid [on Saturday],” Herceg said. “[On Sunday], the conditions were very tough, but [Sitts] was fighting all day for us to finish solid — and he did.”

Rounding out BU’s scores, junior Tynan Jones ended the first round with a score of 76/4 over par, putting him tied for 24th place. Sophomore Brandon Conner and junior Ryan Millevoi both finished day one, shooting 77/5 over par to end up tied for 27th place. Lastly, sophomore Sean Shen recorded a score of 83/11 over par, entering round two tied for 68th place. However, Shen’s score was dropped due to being the highest of the five Bearcat’s scores.

“It was a really good first round for [Jones],” Herceg said. “[Jones] changed his putting style, and it was definitely a positive for him … It will be good for him going forward to be dedicated to how he’s going to putt for the rest of the season for us.”

On day two, Binghamton matched its initial pace, despite dealing with tough weather conditions. The team finished their second round with a score of 306/18 over par. Sitts tacked on a couple of strokes during this round for a score of 76/4 over par which dropped him slightly lower down on the individual leaderboard — finishing the tournament tied for 15th with a final score of 150/6 over par.

“Even if there is consistent wind, it is fine,” Herceg said. “But when it is gusty, that’s what’s tough. At one point, it’s 25 miles per hour and then it gusts to 35 miles per hour — so it’s tough, but it is what it is.”

Shen improved by five strokes on day two with a score of 78/6 over par — good enough for a tied for 60th place finish. Millevoi also improved, shooting a 75/3 over par. He excelled on his front nine, shooting a 35/1 under par to earn a tied for 22nd place finish. Conner duplicated his round-one performance — shooting another 77/5 over par — this pace was good for a tied for a 33rd place finish. Lastly, Jones scored an 83/11 over par during round two which was dropped from the team’s total, concluding the weekend with a tied for 54th place finish.

“For both rounds, [Millevoi] didn’t have his best stuff,” Herceg said. “But [on Sunday], he really fought hard considering the conditions. He made a few putts coming down the stretch. This is two tournaments in a row that he really helped us out.”

Following the conclusion of day two of the tournament, the Bearcats capped their weekend with an overall score of 610/34 over par. BU’s fifth-place standing following day one did not remain after Sunday as Binghamton finished the tournament in seventh place. Rhode Island University and Mount Saint Mary College finished tied for first place as both teams concluded the weekend with a final score of 591/15 over par for the tournament.

“These first couple of tournaments are for us to get some rust off,” Herceg said. “We have to be ready for April when we’ll have some great tournaments. The next couple of weeks we’ll be trying to tighten up some things so we can start scoring a little better each tournament.”

Binghamton will travel south to compete at the Southern Invitational from Monday, April 1 to Tuesday, April 2. Tee times are to be determined at The Falls Club in Lake Worth, Florida.