ELVERSON, PA (April 17, 2012) - Arcadia's Golf Team played a tough field of 8 strong teams today during the Ursinus College Spring Invitational at the prestigious Stonewall Country Club in Elverson PA, and rose to the challenge with some solid scores as the team prepares for next week's Middle Atlantic Conference Championships.
The Stonewall - North Course was by far the longest track of the year to date. Playing from the "tips" or back tees, the long, yet well-manicured links course measured a whopping 6735 yds. The length not being the most daunting task of the day as, the course was surrounded by unforgiving, long, nearly knee-high, straw-thick rough as golfer after competitive collegiate golfer found themselves struggling to find balls, even just a few feet away, in the long folded grass.
For the the Knights, the team shot a team total of 384 placing 7th out the 8 team field. Today's three best rounds were nearly all identical with Arcadia's # 1 golfer, Colin Pippert '15 shooting a 93, while both Shannon Massott '14 and Dan Schiffert '15 tied with a round of 94. The Arcadia team played some great shots and holes, and most were on target for very strong rounds, only to be swallowed up by just a few errant shots, leading to numerous extra strokes trying to recover in the incredible rough.
"Our young players loved the challenge today here at Stonewall, and the course was beautiful," noted head coach Rick Brownell. "But anytime you're playing a course like this for the first time, young players are likely to make some misuces. We learned a lot today and that's one of the reasons we came here, to challenge ourselves on one of the most difficult courses around as we look forward to next week's MAC Championships."
Rosemont won today's invitational with a team score of 315 (+35/Par 70) while host Ursinus placed second (318/+38) and Delaware Valley College third (333/+53). Alvernia combined for a 342 (+62) to take fourth, Valley Forge Christian (353/+73) in fifth, Arcadia in sixth while Widener rounded out the field in last place (390/+110).
The team looks to continue to prepare for the MAC Conference Championship, to be held on Saturday & Sunday April 28th & 29th at Hershey Country Clube in Hershey, PA.
