Bucknell University
Patriot League Championship
Waddell Wins Patriot League Golf Title, Bucknell Second as a Team
4/24/2005 8:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 24, 2005
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Sophomore Charlie Waddell birdied two of the final three holes to edge teammate Ben Pellicani by one shot for the Patriot League individual men's golf championship, and the Bucknell team finished in second place to Army as the tournament concluded in chilly conditions on Sunday at the Bucknell Golf Club.
Waddell shot 67-71-71 and tied the Patriot League Championship record with a 54-hole total of 1-under-par 209. He is the first Bucknell player to win a Patriot League individual title, and he did so in dramatic fashion. Pellicani, who shot a school-record 65 in the second round, finished at even-par 210 and led the field by one stroke as Waddell, in the final group, came to the 16th hole.
At the downhill par-3 16th, Waddell hit a short iron to about four feet and drained the birdie putt. At No. 17, a dogleg left par-4, his tee shot came to rest just inches from a small brook to the left of the fairway. Forced to take a stance in the gully, Waddell hit a sensational shot that just barely made it to the top side of the two-tiered green, the same level as the hole, and he calmly sank a 10-footer for another birdie. A two-putt par on 18 clinched Waddell's first collegiate win.
While Waddell's title will go in the Patriot League record books, Pellicani's tournament was equally memorable. The junior won a 36-hole qualifier against a teammate on Wednesday and Thursday just to get into the field as the Bison's sixth man. He shot a 1-over 71 in the first round followed by the record-setting 65 on the middle 18. On Sunday he finished with a respectable 74, putting him at even-par 210 for the tournament.
Sunday began with 19 players heading out to finish their second rounds, which had been suspended by a late-afternoon thunderstorm on Saturday. Led by Pellicani's 65, the Bison shot a 2-over 282 as a team, breaking the school record of 286 from Saturday's opening round.
That put Bucknell just one shot behind Army in the team standings entering the final 18 holes of play. But the Black Knights, who won their eighth Patriot League title last season, outscored Bucknell 293-299 to earn championship No. 9.
In addition to Waddell's 71 and Pellicani's 74, Kyle Moran shot 76, Tom Lane 78 and Keita Aoki and Patrick Yingling 79 each. Aoki and Moran both tied for 16th at 226, while Lane and Yingling tied for 30th place at 231.
Army placed five of its six players in the top 10, led by Scott Manley and Pete Phipps, who tied for fourth at 214. Austin Luher shot 219 to finish seventh and Joey Cave shot 222 to tie for 10th. Also earning All-Patriot League honors for top-10 finishes were American's Kevin Horan (3rd, 213) and Adam Kolloff (6th, 218), Holy Cross' Matt Czarnecki (9th, 221) and Lehigh's Ross Feldman (T-10th, 222).
Bucknell's Jim Cotner and Colgate's Brad Houston shared Coach of the Year honors. It is the first such honor for Cotner and the second for a Bison coach. Tommy Thompson won the award in 2000.
The second-place finish matches Bucknell's best ever at the Patriot League Championship. The Bison were second to Navy in 2000 the last time the event was held in Lewisburg. Bucknell's 867 team total this year was its best ever by a whopping 40 strokes. It scored 907 at West Point in 2002.
American tied Army for low final round with a 293 and finished in third place at 878, 11 shots behind Bucknell. Navy moved up two spots to fourth place at 895, followed by Lehigh (899), Holy Cross (909), Colgate (923) and Lafayette (925).
