The St. Thomas Aquinas Men’s golf team captured its second straight tournament victory with a heart-pounding come from behind win at the Port Jefferson Intercollegiate. This was the first annual event held at the beautiful Port Jefferson Country Club in Long Island, co-hosted by Adelphi University and St. Thomas Aquinas College.
On day one temperatures were in the mid-50’s with winds gusting over 20 mph. Playing along side Adelphi University, the Spartans faced the region’s top ranked team and number one player- Ryan Snouffer. Leading the team on day 1 was Niklas Koerner who carded a spectacular 1-under 71 in difficult conditions. Behind him was freshman Brendan Hunter who battled all day to shoot a solid round of 74. Tommy Linehan continued his steady play and shot a nice round of 76 while freshman Kevin Gately and Kai Rastetter struggled a bit with rounds of 78 and 83 respectively. The Spartans round 1 score of 299 left them in 2nd place behind the tournament leader Adelphi University who shot a team score of 297.
On day two the weather improved and the team staged a come from behind victory led by their two freshman from Massachusetts; Brendan Hunter and Kevin Gately. Hunter, who was not in the starting lineup last weekend, bounced back to card a St. Thomas Aquinas record low score of 67 (-5). After shooting 1 under on his front 9, Hunter started his charge making 5 birdies and a bogey on the back 9. His two day score of 141 (74-67) was just enough to get him into a playoff for the individual title against Louis Kelly from Adelphi. Kelly took home the title after making a birdie on the first playoff hole.
Right behind Hunter was his teammate Kevin Gately who put together an excellent round of golf. After turning at even par, Gately put together a 4-under par back nine to post the low round of his young college career. Gately’s 146 (78-68) was good for a T-4 finish. Sophomore Kai Rastetter bounced back from a tough first round to card a round of 74 while Niklas Koerner and Tommy Linehan posted rounds of 76 and 77 respectively. The teams day 2 score of 285 (-3) was 4 shots better than Adelphi University giving the Spartans their 2nd consecutive team championship and 3rd victory of the fall season.
The Spartans also had four individuals who participated and played very well in the event. Leading the group was sophomore Anthony Berardo who posted a 2 day score of 146 (78-68) which gave him a T-4 finish. Sophomore Chris Gentle played 2 solid rounds of golf shooting 73-78 which left him T-10 place. Junior Colby Lewis finished in 26th place after rounds of 76-80 while freshman Dane Cianelli finished in 33rd place after shooting 85-77.
The Spartans wrapped up their fall season with 3 tournament victories in their 5 events and maintained a team scoring average of 295.9. The team will be back in action in the spring when they travel south to Myrtle Beach for a week of practice and a tournament against some of the top south region schools.