Men's Golf Grabs Third Place at Bucknell Invitational

Tuesday, October 9

Lewisburg, Pa. (Bucknell GC)

All Day

Bucknell University

Bucknell Invitational

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Men's Golf Grabs Third Place at Bucknell Invitational

10/9/2018 6:29:00 PM | Men's Golf

J.P. Raftery finishes 1-under, places 4th individually

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Backed by an even-par 70 from freshman Carter Cook and a 71 from senior J.P. Raftery, the Bucknell men's golf team posted a 289 team score on Tuesday and finished in third place at the Bucknell Invitational. Raftery was 1-under for the tournament after shooting 68 in the first round on Monday, and he placed fourth individually.

Temple won the team title and set a tournament record with a 4-over 564 total (280-284), besting defending-champion Wayne State by three strokes. The Owls began the day with a three-shot lead over the Warriors, relinquished the lead on the back nine, and then had a strong finish to claim the title. Bucknell was third at 573, followed by Iona (577), Fairleigh Dickinson (581) and Navy (581) in the 18-team field.

Raftery was one of only four in the 95-player field to finish under par over 36 holes. La Salle's Dragon Theam made only one bogey all week and won the tournament with a 7-under 133, a new tournament record. He shot 66 on Tuesday to edge out Temple's John Barone by one stroke. Temple's Trey Wren was third at -3, followed by Raftery at -1. Iona's Justin Burkhamer and Navy's Thomas Garbee both finished at even-par 140.

Raftery, playing in the final group, made the turn at 2-under after birdies at holes 6 and 9. He bogeyed four of the first eight holes on the inward nine before rolling in a 12-foot putt on 18 to get back into red numbers for the week.

Cook bounced back from an opening-round 75 to post a career-best 70 in round two. Cook fell to +2 on his round after a double-bogey at the par-3 4th hole, but he birdied three of the last four holes on the front nine and canceled two back-nine bogeys with birdies at 11 and 15 to shoot even-par on the day and finish T-22nd.

Connor O'Brien finished T-14th after following up his opening-round 68 with a 75. Peter Bradbeer shot his second straight 73, and Chris Tanabe finished with a 75.

Bucknell also entered a four-man "B" team, and freshman Jason Lohwater was leader of that group. Lohwater was in contention for medalist honors after firing a 3-under 67 in the first round, but he dropped a bit to T-11th after a final-round 75. Jubal Early led the "B" group in the second round with 74.

The Bison have now finished in the top three at their home tournament in 12 of the last 15 years, with six team titles over that span.

Bucknell wraps up the fall season Oct. 19-20 at the Lehigh Invitational at Saucon Valley Country Club.