New Era of Bison Men's Golf Starts Saturday at Colgate Invitational

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- For the first time in 13 years, and for just the sixth time in program history, the Bucknell men's golf team will be debuting under a new coach on Saturday when it kicks off the 2014-15 season at the Colgate Invitational. Under the direction of first-year head coach Mike Binney, the Bison return five experienced players and welcome five newcomers this fall. Two of those first-year players will be in the lineup this weekend at Seven Oaks GC.

The Colgate Invitational will be a 54-hole event, with 36 holes on Saturday and 18 on Sunday. Live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com.

The Bison will be one of five Patriot League teams in the field this weekend, as Seven Oaks GC will also be the site of the 2015 Patriot League Championship next spring. In addition to Bucknell and Colgate, Army, Lehigh and Lafayette will also be in Hamilton. Also competing will be Binghamton, La Salle, Fordham, St. Bonaventure, Siena, Canisius, Wagner, Niagara and Rider.

Peter Scialabba is the lone senior on the roster for Bucknell this season, and he will be joined in the lineup this weekend by sophomores John Edler and D.J. Magee, and freshmen C.J. Zachary and Daniel Levin.

"The guys are really energized to start the season," said Binney. "Right now I am getting to know their games, and I want to help each of them reach the highest peak of success that they can achieve. They believe they have the talent to win a conference title. They are pumped up to get started, and hopefully they can ride that wave of enthusiasm this weekend at Colgate. I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can do."

The Bison graduated three seniors from last year's team that finished fifth at the Patriot League Championship at West Point. One of those seniors, Schuyler Stitzer, led the team with a 75.4 scoring average in 2013-14. But Edler and Magee were both regular starters as freshmen last season, and Scialabba has been a key contributor since he was runner-up at the 2012 Patriot League Championship and earned PL Rookie of the Year honors.

Scialabba averaged 76.0 last season and had a sixth-place finish at the Bucknell Invitational. Edler turned in a top-10 finish (T-8th) at the Lehigh Invitational and compiled a 76.4 average, and Magee finished his rookie year with a 77.5 average.

"We are going to be leaning on Peter quite a bit this season as our senior captain," said Binney. "He had a good freshman year and has been a solid, steady performer for the last two years. The team expects him to continue that steady play and provide leadership for what is a fairly young team.

Junior Nick Geissler and sophomore Zachary Melnick are also back this season, and freshmen Jack Gregor, J.B. Thompson and Austin Honigford will be looking to play their way into the starting lineup.

"The core of sophomores with John, D.J. and Zach is a real solid group," said Binney. "We are looking for them to take a step up from their freshman seasons and contend for the top spots on the team. All of the freshmen have a lot of potential. C.J., Jack and J.B. were all recruited players, and Daniel and Austin made the team as walk-ons through our qualifying tournament. Daniel was a Junior Amateur qualifier, and he made our travel roster for Colgate as one of our top five team qualifiers. We have high hopes for him and all of the first-year guys."

After opening at Colgate, the Bison will host their annual fall tournament the following weekend (Sept. 13-14) at the Bucknell Golf Club. Events hosted by Cornell, Columbia, Binghamton, Lehigh and Western Carolina will follow later in the fall.