The St. Thomas Aquinas men’s golf team continued their solid spring with a victory at their annual tournament held down at Rum Pointe Golf Club in Ocean City, MD. Along with the team victory, senior Colby Lewis captured the individual crown after his birdie on the first playoff hole against Messiah College’s Jordan Kirsch.

After both players posted 7-under par for the 36 hole event, they entered a sudden death playoff. Lewis played first and ripped his drive just right of the fairway leaving himself less than 100 yards to the hole. Kirsch followed that up with his own excellent drive splitting the fairway. After Kirsch’s approach shot landed 30 feet from the pin, Lewis stepped up to his shot and stuck it to 4 feet. Kirsch made an aggressive stroke for birdie, narrowly missing the cup by less than a foot. That set the stage for Lewis to knock in his birdie putt, earning him his first victory at St. Thomas Aquinas with an impressive score of 137 (70 - 67).

The team had a solid event of golf with a 36 hole score of 576 after carding a 1-under par  287 and 1-over par 289. The team was led by sophomore Chris Gentle was continued his hot play as of late. Gentle played steady all day, carding an even par 72 in the morning and then posting a 2-under 70 in the afternoon. Gentle’s 142 earned him a 3rd place finish in the event and helps improve his spring scoring average to 73.3.

Freshman Mike Miranda had his best event of his young career after shooting 73 and 70. This marks the first time Miranda has been under par for 36 holes and earns him a T-4 finish.

Senior Niklas Koerner has a nice day on the links with an even par 72 and a 1-over 73. Koerner’s 145 was good for 9th place.

Kai Rastetter started his day off hot and shot a team low round of 2-under par in his first round. In the second round, Rastetter carded a 77 after cracking his driver on the first hole. Rastetter’s 147 earned him an 11th place finish in event.

Kevin Gately round out the team scoring with a 36-hole score of 149. Gately’s 73 and 76 were good for a T-13 finish.

Sophomore Brendan Hunter saw his first action of the spring and played two solid rounds of golf, posting a 74 and 72 for a 36 hole score of 146. Hunter earned 9th place overall with his effort.

With the team score of 576, the Spartans earned first place honors ahead of Nyack College (585) and Messiah College (590).

The team is back in action next weekend at the Mike Bello Invitational hosted by LeMoyne College.