Early Leads Bison to Runner-Up Finish at Yale Spring Invitational

Saturday, April 13

New Haven, Conn. (The Course at Yale)

All Day

Bucknell University

Yale Spring Invitational

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Early Leads Bison to Runner-Up Finish at Yale Spring Invitational

4/13/2019 7:56:00 PM | Men's Golf

Bucknell senior places 4th at -2

RESULTS

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Buoyed by a career-best showing from senior Jubal Early, the Bucknell men's golf team finished in second place at the Yale Spring Invitational on Saturday. Early posted a 2-under-par 138 in the one-day, 36-hole event, leading to a fourth-place finish, and Peter Bradbeer (T-8th) and J.P. Raftery (T-14th) also placed in the top-15 in a field of 72 players.

The tournament used a rare play-6/count-5 format, and the Bison showed off their depth. Bucknell compiled a second-round 353 -- 10 strokes better than its first-round score -- to move up from sixth place to second. Host Yale won the team title with a 711 composite, while Bucknell (716), Penn (717), Siena (718) and Harvard (718) rounded out the top five.

Early was the lead story of the day for the Bison. His second-round, 2-under 68 was one shy of his personal best score, and it came on the heels of an even-par 70 in a rain-delayed morning round. Early grabbed some momentum by playing his final eight holes in 3-under in round one, and then he made three birdies, 14 pars, and just a single bogey in the second round.

Early was one of just five players in the field to finish in red numbers. Siena's Jack Brown posted a pair of 67s to claim medalist honors at 6-under. Yale's James Nicholas and Penn's Josh Goldenberg both finished at -4, followed by Early and St. Bonaventure's Danny Gianniny (-1).

Meanwhile, Bradbeer and Raftery both had outstanding days as well for the Bison. After opening with a 74, Bradbeer shot a bogey-free 67 in round two. The junior parred his first 14 holes, then made birdies at 15, 16 and 18 around another par at 17 to post 67, which was one shy of the best in the field.

Raftery posted back-to-back 71s. He eagled the par-4 sixth hole and later birdied two of the final three holes in the first round. Raftery added two more birdies along with 13 pars in the afternoon.

Elsewhere for the Bison, Jason Lohwater shot 72-75, Carter Cook posted 76-73, and Chris Tanabe shot 80-74.

Bucknell has one tournament remaining prior to the 2019 Patriot League Championship, and it will be at the site of the conference tourney. Next weekend, the Bison will be at the Robert Trent Jones Shootout, hosted by Colgate at Seven Oaks GC. The Patriot League Championship will be contested at Seven Oaks on Apr. 27-28.