Friday, February 14
Palm City, Fla. (Martin Downs GC)
All Day
Bucknell University
at
Martin Downs Intercollegiate
Photo by: Patrick Shanahan/Cornell Athletics
Blake Wisdom Ties School Record with 6-Under Round, Bison Open With Strong 282 at Martin Downs
2/14/2020 4:28:00 PM | Men's Golf
PALM CITY, Fla. – Freshman Blake Wisdom etched his name in the Bucknell record book with a sensational 6-under-par 66 on Friday, as the Bison men's golf squad opened the 2020 spring season with a 6-under team score of 282 at the Martin Downs Collegiate, hosted by UNC Greensboro.
Ten of the 14 teams in a very talented field broke par in the opening round, and the Bison sit in a tie for seventh place alongside Drexel, three shots behind sixth-place South Dakota. Host UNCG, boosted by a 62 from senior Jonathan Brightwell, own the lead after firing an 18-under 270.
The Bison also counted a 2-under 70 from Peter Bradbeer, a 72 from Chris Tanabe, and a 73 from Jason Lohwater, but Wisdom was the story of the day.
The freshman from Wisconsin was coming off an outstanding fall, when he posted two rounds in the 60s and a scoring average of 73.5. He outdid himself on Friday, turning in a bright red scorecard that featured eight birdies. Wisdom birdied four of the first six holes and made the turn in 4-under 32. He ended a run of four straight pars with a birdie at the par-5 13th. He made just his second bogey of the day at the tough par-4 15th – a troublesome hole (+5) for the entire team – but closed birdie-birdie-par to shoot 66.
Wisdom is the fourth Bison to post a 6-under round in school history. Tanabe did it with a 6-under 65 at the Dartmouth Invitational last fall, and Will Bachman (2010 Colgate Invitational) and Andrew Cohen (2010 Lafayette Invitational) carded 6-under 66s. Tanabe and Ben Pellicani (2005 Patriot League Championship) have the only two 65s in team history.
Brightwell, the 19th-ranked collegiate men's player in the nation in the Golfweek rankings, made seven birdies and two eagles on his way to a school-record 62. Wisdom is in a four-way tie for second place at -6, joined by Elon's Graham Hutchinson, Old Dominion's Gustav Fransson, and Elon individual Bronson Myers. Three other players are 5-under, and 52 of the 94 players in the field shot even par or better.
One of those was Bradbeer, who made five birdies on his way to a 2-under 70. He was 3-under without a blemish through 13 holes, but then went bogey-double bogey at 14 and 15. But like Wisdom, Bradbeer bounced back with a strong finish, making birdies at 16 and 18 to get back into red numbers.
Strong starts and strong finishes were the key to the day Bucknell. The team's four counting players were a combined 5-under on the first three holes, and a combined 6-under on the final three. Those four Bison totaled 18 birdies and an eagle on the day. Lohwater had the eagle on the par-5 eighth hole, part of a 7-under showing for the team on the par-5 holes.
Defending-champion UNCG has a six-stroke lead on second-place James Madison after the first of three rounds. Old Dominion (277), Samford (278), Elon (278), South Dakota (279), Bucknell (282) and Drexel (282) are all within six shots of second place.
The second round gets underway on Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. Bucknell will be paired with Elon, South Dakota and Drexel, starting on the first tee.
Ten of the 14 teams in a very talented field broke par in the opening round, and the Bison sit in a tie for seventh place alongside Drexel, three shots behind sixth-place South Dakota. Host UNCG, boosted by a 62 from senior Jonathan Brightwell, own the lead after firing an 18-under 270.
The Bison also counted a 2-under 70 from Peter Bradbeer, a 72 from Chris Tanabe, and a 73 from Jason Lohwater, but Wisdom was the story of the day.
The freshman from Wisconsin was coming off an outstanding fall, when he posted two rounds in the 60s and a scoring average of 73.5. He outdid himself on Friday, turning in a bright red scorecard that featured eight birdies. Wisdom birdied four of the first six holes and made the turn in 4-under 32. He ended a run of four straight pars with a birdie at the par-5 13th. He made just his second bogey of the day at the tough par-4 15th – a troublesome hole (+5) for the entire team – but closed birdie-birdie-par to shoot 66.
Wisdom is the fourth Bison to post a 6-under round in school history. Tanabe did it with a 6-under 65 at the Dartmouth Invitational last fall, and Will Bachman (2010 Colgate Invitational) and Andrew Cohen (2010 Lafayette Invitational) carded 6-under 66s. Tanabe and Ben Pellicani (2005 Patriot League Championship) have the only two 65s in team history.
Brightwell, the 19th-ranked collegiate men's player in the nation in the Golfweek rankings, made seven birdies and two eagles on his way to a school-record 62. Wisdom is in a four-way tie for second place at -6, joined by Elon's Graham Hutchinson, Old Dominion's Gustav Fransson, and Elon individual Bronson Myers. Three other players are 5-under, and 52 of the 94 players in the field shot even par or better.
One of those was Bradbeer, who made five birdies on his way to a 2-under 70. He was 3-under without a blemish through 13 holes, but then went bogey-double bogey at 14 and 15. But like Wisdom, Bradbeer bounced back with a strong finish, making birdies at 16 and 18 to get back into red numbers.
Strong starts and strong finishes were the key to the day Bucknell. The team's four counting players were a combined 5-under on the first three holes, and a combined 6-under on the final three. Those four Bison totaled 18 birdies and an eagle on the day. Lohwater had the eagle on the par-5 eighth hole, part of a 7-under showing for the team on the par-5 holes.
Defending-champion UNCG has a six-stroke lead on second-place James Madison after the first of three rounds. Old Dominion (277), Samford (278), Elon (278), South Dakota (279), Bucknell (282) and Drexel (282) are all within six shots of second place.
The second round gets underway on Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. Bucknell will be paired with Elon, South Dakota and Drexel, starting on the first tee.
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