This article initially appeared in The Fordham Ram in September of 2017.
The Fordham men’s golf team came in eighth place at the Hartford Hawks Invitational at Bull’s Bridge Golf Club in South Kent, Connecticut this past Monday and Tuesday. The team shot a nine-over 873 over the course of 54 holes.
This finish comes off the heels of the team’s season-opening victory at the Ryan Lee Invitational in Simsbury, Connecticut the weekend of Sept. 9-10. While Monday’s golf was supposed to consist of the teams playing 36 holes, play was suspended due to darkness after one 18-hole round. Rounds two and three of the tournament were played on Tuesday with an 8:00 a.m. start to accommodate the amount of time it would take for the 20 participating universities to finish play.
The Rams’ eighth-place finish trailed only Central Florida, Seton Hall, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Army, Towson and Boston College. Central Florida ran away with the tournament, winning it by an astronomical 25 strokes.
The Rams responded to the schedule change admirably, as the team followed its first-round 291 with a second-round 290 and a final round 292. Senior Joseph Trim led the way for the Rams after round one, with a four-under 68 after 18 holes; Trim’s Monday round tied with senior James Mongey for the lowest individual round by a Rams player this season. Sophomore and Miami native Tomas Nieves answered his Tuesday round of 77 with a two-under 70 round on Tuesday morning and a three-over 75 on Tuesday afternoon. Senior Matt Schiller fired a seven-over 223 while junior Josh Madarang finished at nineteen-over. The freshman from Sandwich, Massachusetts native Mithran Denbow competed individually and finished at 32 strokes over par, but there was light at the end of the tunnel for him, as he finished the tournament with a final-round 77. The aforementioned Mongey finished at just one over par following his stellar performance at the Lee Invitational, which was the Rams’ first competition of the 2017-18 season. For his exploits at that tournament, Mongey was named Fordham’s Male Athlete of the Week for the week of Sept. 12; Mongey was also crowned the Atlantic 10 Golfer of the Week, which accounted for tournaments taking place through Sept. 13.
The real star for Fordham, though, was Trim; the Fordham senior, originally from Tampa, Florida, shot a five-under 211 over 54 holes and tied for fourth on the individual leaderboard with Central Florida’s Donnie Trosper.
Fordham placed eighth in a tournament that included the University of Central Florida, Seton Hall University, Connecticut University, Boston College, Towson University, Army, Rhode Island, Rider University, Weber State University, Bryant University, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Hofstra University, Long Island University-Brooklyn, Sacred Heart University, Hartford University, Fairfield University, St. Francis University (Pennsylvania), St. John’s University, and College of the Holy Cross. The best individual round of the tournament came courtesy of Boston College’s Tyler Kertson, who shot an eight-under 64 on day one. Central Florida’s Juuso Kahlos led all players in the individual standings with a nine-under 207 over three rounds.
Next up for the Fordham men’s golf team is the Quechee Invite, which will be hosted by Dartmouth University and take place this Saturday and Sunday in Quechee, Vermont. After that, the team closes the month of September at the MacDonald Invitational in New Haven, Connecticut.