Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Invitational Men's Golf Tournament Slated for This Weekend
9/14/2005 8:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Sept. 14, 2005
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's golf team seeks a victory in its own fall tournament for the third straight year, as 17 teams join the Bison for the Bucknell Invitational Friday and Saturday at the Bucknell Golf Club.
Bucknell, which finished third at the Colgate Invitational in its 2005-06 debut last weekend, captured this event in both 2003 and 2004. Last season Kyle Moran, Alex Dolle and Charlie Waddell finished 1-2-3 individually and the Bison shot 291-293 for a convincing 20-stroke victory over runner-up Cornell. In 2003, a final-round 291 propelled Bucknell to what was then its first tournament victory in 16 years.
Since then the Orange & Blue have added four more wins and a second-place finish at the 2005 Patriot League Championship. Three other Patriot League teams will join Bucknell in the field this weekend - Colgate, Lafayette and Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks won last week's Colgate Invitational, and the only other team to finish ahead of the Bison last week, Saint Francis (Pa.), will also be in Lewisburg this weekend.
Other teams in the field are Cornell, Duquesne, Fairleigh Dickinson, Fordham, Indiana (Pa.), La Salle, Long Island, Mount St. Mary's, Rider, Robert Morris, St. Bonaventure, St. Peter's and Susquehanna.
Bucknell features a deep, veteran squad led by Waddell, the reigning Patriot League champion. Seniors Tom Lane and Ben Pellicani, along with juniors Moran and Patrick Yingling, will join Waddell in the starting lineup. Head coach Jim Cotner will also enter a "Blue" team, consisting of juniors Ryan Hom and Chas Wagner, sophomores Keita Aoki and Rehul Desai, and freshman Brian Poe.
The Bucknell Invitational will consist of 54 holes - 36 on Friday and 18 on Saturday morning. Results will be posted online at www.BucknellBison.com.
The Bucknell Golf Club plays to a par 70 (36 front, 34 back) at a distance of 6,253 yards. The challenging course features many narrow fairways and small greens, demanding accurate shotmaking. The longest hole on the course is the 593-yard third that requires an up-hill approach to a slender green. Perhaps the signature hole is the 499-yard, par-5 ninth. The hole is reachable in two shots for the longer players, but a large pond in front of the green brings a significant "risk vs. reward" decision just before the turn.
Admission is free to the event. The Bucknell Golf Club is located off Smoketown Road, approximately one-half mile west of the Bucknell campus, across Rt. 15.
