Men's Golf Set to Host Bucknell Invitational Monday-Tuesday

Monday, October 8

Lewisburg, Pa. (Bucknell GC)

All Day

Bucknell University

Bucknell Invitational

Men's Golf Set to Host Bucknell Invitational Monday-Tuesday

10/5/2018 3:08:00 PM | Men's Golf

What: 2018 Bucknell Invitational
When: Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 8-9 (36 holes)
Where: Par-70, 6,224-yard Bucknell Golf Club, Lewisburg, Pa.
The Field: 17 teams (Bucknell, Canisius, Columbia, Fairleigh Dickinson, Hampton, Holy Cross, Humber, Iona, La Salle, Manhattan, Monmouth, Navy, Ottawa, St. Francis (N.Y.), Saint Francis (Pa.), Temple. Wayne State)

Live Stats: BirdieFire.com

About the Bison

Bucknell looks to continue a strong fall season when it hosts the annual Bucknell Invitational on Monday and Tuesday.
Last time out, the Bison finished ninth out of 14 teams at the Macdonald Cup, hosted by Yale. Bucknell got out to a strong start with an even-par 280 in round one, but then slipped down the leaderboard a bit with rounds of 293 and 302. Peter Bradbeer (70-76-72) and Chris Tanabe (70-72-76) were the low Bison at 218, good for a tie for 26th place. The round of the weekend was a 2-under 68 from J.P. Raftery to start the tournament.
Prior to the Macdonald Cup, Bucknell won the Quechee Cup Collegiate Challenge, hosted by Dartmouth, on Sept. 22-23. That win was made possible by a stellar final round. The Bison compiled a 7-under-par 281 -- a school record in relation to par -- to move up from sixth place entering the day to a five-stroke victory. The trio of J.P. Raftery (68), Chris Tanabe (69) and Connor O'Brien (69) combined to shoot 10-under, and the fourth counting score was a solid 75 from freshman Carter Cook.
Tanabe and O'Brien both shot 71-69 at Quechee Club and tied for first place individually. Brown's Drew Powell won a four-man playoff with a birdie at the first hole. Tanabe and O'Brien were later tabbed co-Bison Athletes of the Week.
Through four events, Bucknell has a team scoring average of 293.5.
O'Brien leads the team with a 72.2 scoring average. Tanabe, who along with Raftery are the lone Bison to play in all four tournaments thus far, is right behind at 72.3. Peter Bradbeer (73.8) and Raftery (73.9) also have sub-74 averages.
All nine Bison will be in action this weekend. Tanabe, Bradbeer, Raftery and O'Brien will be in the lineup for the "A" squad. The fifth spot will be determined in an 18-hole qualifier on Saturday, and the remaining four players will comprise the "B" team.

Bucknell at the Bucknell Invitational

Bucknell has been very successful in its home tournament in recent years, winning six of the last 15 titles, while finishing as the runner-up on five other occasions in that span.
The Bison have won their home tournament seven times, including four straight titles from 2007-10, Bucknell also won this event in 1981, 2003 and 2004. Bison winning individual titles include Rob Wagner in 1981, Kyle Moran in 2004, Stuart Lindgren in 2007, Jeff Pike in 2008, Andrew Cohen in 2009, and Dan Bernard in 2012.
Last season, Bucknell shot 291-281 for a 36-hole total of 572, which was just one shot behind Wayne State (285-286). Brendan Seys of Wayne State was the medalist with a 5-under total of 135 (68-67). J.P. Raftery was the low Bison at 142 (75-67), which put him in sixth place.

Up Next

Following the Bucknell Invitational, the Bison have one fall tournament remaining, the Lehigh Invitational on Oct. 19-20. Bucknell won that tournament in 2015 and 2016 before finishing second last season.