High scores and poor play on Monday and Tuesday marked the end to a once-promising season for the Boston University men’s golf team at the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association Tournament.
The Terriers posted a total score of 682 on the par-72 Captain’s Golf Course in Brewster, Massachusetts to finish in 32nd place, three strokes behind the College of the Holy Cross. An opening round score of 345 left BU tied for 33rd place with Springfield College, seven strokes out of 32nd place. The team rebounded on Tuesday to shoot a 337, as it leap-frogged past Saint Anselm College.
The tournament, consisting of 47 area colleges, is the largest in the Northeast, and the quality of play reflected it. The University of Rhode Island came from seven strokes back after Monday’s play to beat University of Hartford by five strokes with a score of 600 (307-293).
Thomas Rogers of the University of Vermont overtook Bryant College’s Jason Clary in a playoff to win the individual title. Both players posted a four over par score of 148 for the two days.
The frustrating play for BU was the continuation of a trend from last week, when it dropped matches to the Vermont and Manhattan College.
“The last couple of times we’ve played have been somewhat disappointing,” said Coach Gary Skrinar. “All the guys shot over their average for the two days. That doesn’t always bode very well for us. If we shoot our average or better, that is what you always want.”
Senior captain Rob Klare and fellow senior Takumi Okubo tied for the top BU score with a total of 165, to finish in 86th place overall.
Klare shot an 84 on Monday and an 81 on Tuesday, both scores being well over his average. Klare’s 44 on the front nine on Tuesday led to the higher score than usual, but he finished the back nine with a one-over-par score of 37.
Okubo, however, followed an 87 on Monday with a 78 on Tuesday, the only score the Terriers posted all tournament below 80. He credited his lower score on the second day to taking a different approach.
“The holes were tight, so I hit as many irons off the tee as I could on the second day just to keep it in play. Monday, I was hitting driver off the tee and it was going in the woods, in the rough, and all over,” said Okubo.
“I was hitting my shots pretty well on both days, but on the first day, I had a couple of bad holes making a few sevens and sixes. I just wanted to not have those bad holes,” Okubo said.
Even with the improved play, things still could have been better for Okubo on Tuesday.
“I missed so many birdie putts, after I stuck a lot of shots close to the pin, but I only converted one,” he said.
Okubo got himself in trouble on the first hole on Tuesday, but scrambled his way out of it to set a good tone for his round.
“I hit a three-wood off the tee on a 400 yard par four,” recalled Okubo. “I wanted to be in the fairway, but I kind of hooked it and it ended up in the rough on the left side.
“I had a tree in my way, so I had to go under the trees,” he said. “I took out a six-iron from 160 yards. I kept it low, put it on the green, and I made my two putts for par.”
Okubo’s conservative approach, however, failed to inspire the rest of the team. Freshman Jed Prescott shot a 175 (88-87), and Senior Jose Garrido posted a 181 (89-92). Senior Anthony Devita contributed a score of 177 (86-91). His Tuesday round had an awful beginning as he shot a 50 on the front nine, but he bounced back to shoot a 41 on the back nine.
Okubo said the reasons for the team’s poor play were simple.
“We need to just play better; we shouldn’t be shooting 90s like we did today,” Okubo said. “Rob didn’t play well this weekend and that was a factor. Not having freshman Jim Scott because of class conflicts also hurt us. Those two were big factors. The top two guns not playing well, or not going to the tournament.”
Skrinar wouldn’t let the bad performances of the past two weeks dampen an otherwise strong fall season.
“In general I think we had a pretty good season, except for the past two weekends. Our scores at the Toski Invitational were pretty good and our scores at the Dartmouth Invitational were very good,” Skrinar said. “Up to last Monday, our scores as a total for the team have been lower than they were in 13 years. I was pretty happy with that. So, hopefully we can get back to that in the spring campaign.”
