Men’s Golf Breaks 54-Hole Team Record in 6th-Place Finish at Loyola Invitational

Monday, February 24

Goodyear, Ariz. (Palm Valley GC)

All Day

Bucknell University

Loyola Intercollegiate

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Men’s Golf Breaks 54-Hole Team Record in 6th-Place Finish at Loyola Invitational

2/24/2020 5:52:00 PM | Men's Golf

RESULTS

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – The Bucknell men's golf team continued its assault on the record book on Monday, when it posted a second straight 5-under-par 283 on the way to a sixth-place finish in a field of 19 teams at the Loyola Intercollegiate at Palm Valley Golf Club. The Bison finished the three-day event with a 6-under 858, which is a new school record for a 54-hole score in relation to par.

Junior Chris Tanabe and freshman Blake Wisdom both fired 68s on the par-72 track, and the Bison also counted a 73 from Jason Lohwater and a 74 from Peter Bradbeer. Jackson Bussell's 75 was not needed.

Tanabe's 68 followed his second-round 69, and with a 5-under total of 211 he finished in a tie for eighth place in a talented field of 112 players. Twenty-six players shot even-par or better over 54 holes. Bussell (+1), Wisdom (+2), Bradbeer (+2) and Lohwater (+3) all just missed finishing in red numbers for the week.

Bucknell's 5-under 283 is the third-best 18-hole score in relation to par in team history. The Bison shot 7-under at the Quechee Club Collegiate Challenge in the fall of 2018, and they posted a 6-under 282 just last week at the Martin Downs Collegiate in Florida.

Bucknell's low raw total for 54 holes is 845, set at the 2017 Patriot League Championship at the par-70 Bucknell Golf Club. This week's 858 slots No. 2 behind that mark, but this is the first time the Bison have been as low as -6 as a team in a three-round event.

The Bison were not the only team to go low at Palm Valley. Drake won the tournament with a 15-under 849. Eastern Michigan (-14), Loyola Maryland (-13), Loyola Marymount (-10), and Delaware (-9) rounded out the top five, and Bucknell, Seton Hall (-4), Air Force (-3) and South Dakota (-2) also finished under par.

Delaware was the team of the day with a sensational 21-under 267 to vault from 12th place all the way up to fifth. Northern Illinois went 12-under to get back to even-par for the tournament, and Eastern Michigan and Loyola Maryland both finished with 11-under 277s. The Bison had moved up to second place behind the Greyhounds about midway through the final round before both were overtaken.

Tanabe posted seven birdies on the day and 13 in the tournament, eighth-most in the field. This was Tanabe's fifth top-10 finish of his junior year, which includes a win at the Dartmouth Invitational in the fall. He shot 74-69-68 this week, giving him six rounds in the 60s on the season.

Wisdom's final-round 68 featured three birdies and an eagle, with only one bogey. His eagle at the par-5 second hole was his second of the week, and it was part of an 11-under performance on the par-5s from Bucknell's four counting players on Monday.

Lohwater also made an eagle at the par-5 14th hole, and he added three birdies on the way to a 73.

Roberto Nieves of Delaware was the medalist with an 11-under total of 205 (67-71-67). Loyola's Evan Brown closed with a 66 but fell one short at -10, as did Loyola Marymount's Gavin Cohen. The rounds of the day were 65s from Delaware's Hugo Kedzlie and Drake's Shayne Patel.

Next up for the Bison is the Carpet Bagger Invitational at Worthington Manor Country Club in Urbana, Md., on March 21-22.