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Men’s golf wins first championship

For the first time since the program was revived in 1990, the Boston University men’s golf team can call itself champion.

The Terrier golf team emerged victorious in the Greater Boston Championships at Concord Country Club in Concord. BU outplayed Boston-area competitors Suffolk University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brandeis University and Bentley College.

“I knew if we shot good scores we would have a chance,” said BU coach Gary Skrinar. “It just worked out that we were able to put it together.”

Leading the way for the Terriers was junior John Skrinar. His score of 82 was the best individual performance in the tournament. Terrier senior Mike O’Donnell was close behind, shooting an 83.

“Skrinar and O’Donnell played steady,” said Gary Skrinar.

Also playing for the Terriers were junior Jeremy Hollander (88) and sophomores Takumi Okubo (86) and Steven Gut (85).

The Terriers had a total team score of 336, 13 strokes ahead of second place Bentley. Though the victory was overwhelming, Skrinar noted the team could have performed even better.

“All these guys are capable of shooting in the 70s,” he said. “But they were happy with their scores.”

The higher scores can largely be attributed to the tough conditions at Concord Country Club, a new course unfamiliar to the Terriers.

“There are a lot of blind shots,” Skrinar said. “If you don’t hit it right you end up in the woods instead of the fairway.”

Skrinar also mentioned that golfing conditions in the spring are less than ideal. The greens are usually more brown than anything else and very fast as well. With or without the adverse conditions, Skrinar felt the Terriers’ short game could use some work.

“We’re a little shaky around the green,” he said. “That’s primarily because we haven’t played all winter.”

Getting to the green, however, is not a problem for this team.

“We get off the tee well,” Skrinar said. “We’re long and accurate.”

It took 11 seasons, but Skrinar finally won his first tournament as BU golf coach. Skrinar took over the program in 1990, the first year of its revival. The program had been discontinued in the late 1970s through the 1980s.

“To win your first tournament is pretty nice,” Skrinar said. “It builds your confidence.”

But Skrinar mentioned winning a tournament was not necessarily one of the team’s goals. He usually just stresses that the team play the best golf that they are capable of.

“I rarely say ‘Go out and win it,’” he said. “But this time I told a couple of guys ‘Let’s try to win this thing,’”

BU will attempt to ride the wave of its big win into the Massachusetts Intercollegiate Tournament, which starts tomorrow. Skrinar expects the competition in this tournament to be much tougher than in the Greater Boston, so two tournament wins in a row may be too much too ask.

But this most recent win will remain a historic one for Terrier golf.

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