Coming off a seventh-place finish at the Cornell Invitational three weeks ago, the Binghamton golf team swung back into action, hosting the Matthews Auto Collegiate on its home turf at the Links at Hiawatha Landing. BU finished with a score of 573/3 under par, earning a tied-for-second-place finish out of 14 teams — the Bearcats’ highest placement of the year thus far.

“It was a really good tournament for us,” said Binghamton head coach Bernie Herceg. “We finished [tied for second]. It was definitely a full team effort to get there.”

Overall, BU finished day one tied for fourth place with a score of 290/2 over par after strong performances from several Bearcats. At the end of round one, sophomore Brandon Conner stood at the top of the individual standings in first place, shooting five under par for a score of 67. In addition, junior Tynan Jones concluded the first day of play after shooting a career-best one under par with a score of 71. Fifth-year Evan Sitts rounded out the top three performers for the Bearcats on day one, earning a score of 73/1 over par.

“[Conner] handled himself great,” Herceg said. ”It shows where his game is at and his determination … having [Conner] shoot something like that keeps the whole team having a chance for a victory. It was impressive.”

All eight of Binghamton’s golfers competed in the event. After round one, junior Shawn Colella was tied for 34th place with a score of 74/2 over par. Freshman Jackson Vesper sat in a tie for 45th place, finishing with a score of 75/3 over par while junior Ryan Millevoi and sophomore Sean Shen tied for 55th place after each managed a score of 76/4 over par. Rounding out BU’s performances on day one was sophomore Harrison Blech who finished tied for 74th with a score of 79/7 over par.

“It was good to have [Jones] get a couple [of] solid rounds under his belt,” Herceg said. “It gives him the boost of confidence he needs.”

On day two, Binghamton managed to climb the leaderboard, ultimately finishing tied for second place with a score of 573/3 under par. Conner paced the Bearcats once again, concluding the weekend with an overall score of seven under par, which was good enough for a tie for second-place finish. Jones was the second-best finisher for BU, shooting one over par, and finishing in a tie for 17th place. Sitts and Millevoi both earned a tied for 26th place result, shooting two over par for the weekend.

“We started slow on the front side, but the guys played great on the back side,“ Herceg said. “For the four scores that counted, everyone one of those guys birdied the 18 hole … it helped us solidify tied second.”

Other Bearcat competitors included Vesper, who shot four over par to finish tied for 37th and Blech, who shot two under par on day 2 to finish in a tie for 47th. Rounding things out for BU was Shen and Colella, who finished tied for 52nd and tied for 61st, with scores of six over par and nine over par, respectively.

“For us to be where we needed to be, it was going to be a team effort,” Herceg said.

BU was bested by two strokes, attributable to the eventual winners — Villanova, which finished with an overall score of 571/5 under par. Notably, BU earned its best placing since its second-place finish at the 2022 Sacred Heart Spring Invitational.

“We had a pretty competitive field this year,” Herceg said. “It was great to beat some of them. We only lost by two strokes, so it definitely gives us confidence that we are heading and trending into the right direction.”

Binghamton will look to bring its momentum into the Lehigh Invitational beginning on Friday, Oct. 20, and ending on Saturday, Oct. 21. Tee times are set for 8 a.m. at the Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.