Men's Golf Looks to Continue Strong Start this Weekend at Cornell

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's golf team has gotten off to a good start through two tournaments this fall, and the Bison will look to continue their solid play this Saturday at Sunday at the Cornell Invitational. The 54-hole event features 36 holes on Saturday and 18 on Sunday at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course at Cornell.

In addition to Bucknell and Cornell, Binghamton, Brown, Canisius, Colgate, Delaware, Penn, Princeton, Rider, Saint Joseph's, Siena and Towson will be in this week's field. The Bison finished in 12th place at the Cornell Invitational last season, but they have had success in this event in the past. Led by a 1-2 finish from Brian Bartow and Andrew Cohen, Bucknell was runner-up to Binghamton in 2009. Charlie Waddell also finished second individually there in 2004.

Head coach Michael Binney has not been afraid to throw his talented freshman class right into the mix early this season, and that will be the case again this week. Rookies Connor O'Brien and J.P. Raftery will be in the starting five, while Ashton Radvansky will be playing as an individual. Sophomores Daniel Levin and C.J. Zachary along with junior Zachary Melnick will round out the top five. Junior D.J. Magee will also be playing unattached.

Levin was Bucknell's top finisher at Cornell last year. His rounds of 73-76-75 put him in a tie for fifth place.

The Bison opened the 2015 fall campaign with a third-place showing at the Colgate Invitational, and then their two five-man squads finished fourth and fifth last weekend at the Bucknell Invitational. Melnick and Zachary finished second and third, respectively, last week. Melnick opened with a career-best, 1-under-par 69 followed by a 72. Zachary shot 71-71 in the best showing of his career to date.

O'Brien already has two top-10 finishes to his credit. He fired a 2-under 70 in his very first collegiate round at Colgate, and he has finished fourth and 10th in his two appearances with a stroke average of 73.6. That is the best mark on the team among players who have competed in both tournaments so far.

The Bison are playing seven tournaments in a span of seven weeks this fall, which is giving Binney a chance to assess his entire 11-man roster heading into the spring championship season. After the Cornell Invitational, Bucknell will head to the Tuxedo Club outside New York City to play in the Columbia Invitational.