Men's Golf Heads to Navy for Patriot League Championship

Saturday, May 1

Annapolis, Md. (USNA GC)

All Day

Bucknell University

Patriot League Championship

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Men's Golf Heads to Navy for Patriot League Championship

4/29/2021 2:49:00 PM | Men's Golf

What: 2021 Patriot League Championship
When: Saturday-Sunday, May 1-2 (54 holes: 36 Saturday, 18 Sunday)
Where: Par-70, 7,025-yard U.S. Naval Academy Golf Course, Annapolis, Md.
Format: Play 6/Count 4
The Field: 8 teams (Army, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola, Navy)

LIVE SCORING: GolfStat.com

About the Bison

Bucknell has enjoyed a successful spring season thus far, and now the stakes are raised as the Bison head to Annapolis for the Patriot League Championship. Bucknell is seeking its fourth Patriot League men's golf title and first since 2009.
The Bison posted a 289 team score in last weekend's five-stroke victory over Lehigh at the Bucknell Golf Club. The two teams played a 6-count-4 dual match as a final tuneup prior to the league tournament. Jackson Bussell, Chris Tanabe and Blake Wisdom all shot 72 to lead the Bison.
Bucknell started the spring by finishing 2nd-1st-2nd-3rd in its first four tournament appearances. The victory came at the Battle at Rum Pointe on March 27-28 and was buoyed by Bussell's win in a playoff.
The Bison also posted runner-up finishes at the Carpetbagger Classic and the Rolling Green Intercollegiate, and a third-place showing at Villanova's Wildcat Invitational.
Bucknell is 11-1 head-to-head against Patriot League competition this spring. The only team to finish ahead of the Bison in a tournament was Loyola at Penn State's Rutherford Intercollegiate on Apr. 17-18. Bucknell is 4-0 against Lafayette, 3-0 against Lehigh and 2-0 against both Navy and Colgate.
The Bison enter the Patriot League Championship with an average team score of 294.6. The low round was a 282 (+2) at the Wildcat Invitational, and the low mark in relation to par was a 1-under 287 at the Battle at Rum Pointe.
Bussell has shot 75 or better in all but one of his 11 rounds this season, and he leads the team with a 73.2 scoring average. Wisdom is not far behind at 73.8, followed by Tanabe (74.1), Jack Gardner (74.5) and Jason Lohwater (75.6).
Tanabe, the team's lone senior, heads up this weekend's lineup. He will be followed by Bussell, Wisdom, Lohwater, Josh Holtschlag and Gardner.
With last year's Patriot League Championship canceled due to the pandemic, the sophomore quartet of Bussell, Wisdom, Holtschlag and Gardner will all be making their PLC debuts. Tanabe has finished T-33rd and T-7th in his two previous appearances, and Lohwater finished T-20th as a freshman back in 2019.
This will also mark the first time any of the six members of Bucknell's lineup have played a collegiate round at the U.S. Naval Academy Golf Course.

Bucknell at the Patriot League Championship

This will be the 30th Patriot League Championship since the league's inception in 1991. Bucknell has won the event three times (2009, 2007, 2006).
Navy is hosting the championship for seventh time, and for the first time since 2016. Bucknell has finished higher than fourth only once in those previous seven championships at Navy, but it was a special one. The team's first-ever Patriot League title came in Annapolis in 2006, with Charlie Waddell claiming his second straight individual title. J.P. Raftery was runner-up there in 2016, with his second-round 67 marking the lowest round ever posted by a Bucknell player on the USNA course.

Bucknell's Patriot League Tournament History

1991
Course: Seven Oaks G.C. (Hamilton, N.Y.)
Team Champion: Army (311-326--637)
Bucknell Finish: 4th (332-344--676)
Bucknell Individuals: T7. Don Hansen (83-82--165); 9. Glen Hertzberg (80-86--166); 20. Dave Fries (87-88--175); T24. Doug Dollenberg (84-94--178); T24. Mike Smigie (85-93--178); T34. Chris Curti (99-88--187).

1992
Course: West Point (N.Y.) G.C.
Team Champion: Army (290-295-291--896)
Bucknell Finish: 5th (316-308-322--946)
Bucknell Individuals: T14. Don Hansen (76-75-80--231); T14. Doug Dollenberg (76-75-80--231); T18. Dave Fries (81-73-83--237); T34. Marc Shaffer (84-90-79--253); T36. Jim Foard (83-88-85--256); 38. Chris Curti (86-85-86--257).

1993
Course: U.S. Naval Academy G.C. (Annapolis, Md.)
Team Champion: Army (312-322-306--940)
Bucknell Finish: 4th (330-313-329--972)
Bucknell Individuals: 6. Doug Dollenberg (79-76-81--236); T12. Dave Fries (83-78-83--244); T14. Paul Gregory (87-76-82--245); T23. Jeff Graf (84-87-83--254); 27. Drew Smith (92-83-84--259); T28. Marc Shaffer (84-88-88--260).

1994
Course: Bucknell G.C. (Lewisburg, Pa.)
Team Champion: Army (307-312-319--938)
Bucknell Finish: 3rd (311-322-328--961)
Bucknell Individuals: 2. Doug Dollenberg (76-78-80--234); 14. Jeff Graf (78-85-81--244); T15. Paul Gregory (78-79-88--245); T19. Don Hansen (79-80-89--248); T32. Tommy Martin (83-89-91--263); T40. Mark McGinly (90-101-79--270).

1994 (Championship Moved to Fall Season)
Course: Seven Oaks G.C. (Hamilton, N.Y.)
Team Champion: Army (309-299-322--930)
Bucknell Finish: 3rd (302-315-328--945)
Bucknell Individuals: 6. Jeff Graf (76-76-82--234); T11. Josh Hartman (73-79-88--240); T11. Eric Shortz (75-83-82--240); T15. Paul Gregory (78-77-87--242); 18. Marc Shaffer (78-84-82--244); T28. Tommy Martin (88-88-82--258).

1995
Course: U.S. Naval Academy G.C. (Annapolis, Md.)
Team Champion: Army (309-300-302--911)
Bucknell Finish: 5th (329-317-321--967)
Bucknell Individuals: 13. Jeff Graf (77-83-76--236); T20. Josh Hartman (81-78-85--244); T22. Bryan Sun (86-77-83--246); T30. Tony Calandra (90-81-80--251); 33. Jim Ofria (85-86-84--255); 34. Eric Shortz (94-81-82--257).

1996
Course: Saucon Valley G.C. (Bethlehem, Pa.)
Team Champion: Lehigh (318-310-307--935)
Bucknell Finish: 3rd (322-314-318--954)
Bucknell Individuals: 4. Josh Hartman (81-79-75--235); T5. Bryan Sun (77-77-82--236); Todd Schneider (84-76-83--243); Mark McGinly (80-85-80--245); Eric Shortz (87-82-81--250); Tony Calandra (87-82-83--252).

1997
Course: West Point (N.Y.) G.C.
Team Champion: Lehigh (297-299-300--896)
Bucknell Finish: 5th (316-296-305--917)
Bucknell Individuals: T6. Josh Hartman (80-70-74--224); 12. Todd Schneider (78-75-75--228); T19. Tony Calandra (80-77-77--234); T19. Ken Kosteva (81-74-79--234); T30. Mark Rylak (82-78-81--241); 40. Brad Borman (78-86-89--253).

1998
Course: Seven Oaks G.C. (Hamilton, N.Y.)
Team Champion: Navy (302-294-298--894)
Bucknell Finish: T3rd (315-309-303--927)
Bucknell Individuals: 6. Todd Schneider (77-75-75--227); T16. Tony Calandra (83-75-76--234); T18. Ken Kosteva (77-82-76--235); 23. Tom Marks (84-78-76--238); 30. Mark Rylak (78-81-85--244); 33. Nick Leibowitz (87-82-80--249).

2000 (Championship Moved Back to Spring Season)
Course: Bucknell G.C. (Lewisburg, Pa.)
Team Champion: Navy (305-307-299--911)
Bucknell Finish: 2nd (299-305-310--914)
Bucknell Individuals: 2. Ken Kosteva (74-72-74--220); 11. Jimmy Freeman (76-78-76--230); 19. David Horton (81-74-83--238); T33. Nick Perini (85-81-85--251); 37. L.J. Petroni (85-86-86--257); Nick Leibowitz (68-DQ-77--DQ).

2001
Course: U.S. Naval Academy G.C. (Annapolis, Md.)
Team Champion: Navy (298-298-293--889)
Bucknell Finish: 4th (299-317-301--917)
Bucknell Individuals: 5. Jimmy Freeman (75-77-70--222); T9. Nick Leibowitz (74-79-77--230); T12. Ken Kosteva (74-82-75--231); T23. Charles Markey (76-80-81--237); T25. Scott Leeder (78-81-79--238); 38. David Horton (85-83-83--251).

2002
Course: West Point (N.Y.) G.C.
Team Champion: Army (271-292-284--847)
Bucknell Finish: 5th (300-306-301--907)
Bucknell Individuals: T11. Abbie Valentine (71-74-77--222); T11. Scott Leeder (73-80-69--222); T22. Nick Leibowitz (77-76-77--230); T28. Dan Gale (79-76-79--234); 42. Charles Markey (85-86-78--249); 45. Alex Dolle (82-82-89--253).

2003
Course: Saucon Valley G.C. (Bethlehem, Pa.)
Team Champion: Navy (297-290-291--878)
Bucknell Finish: 5th (319-310-309--938)
Bucknell Individuals: T8. Tom Lane (79-75-74--228); T11. Abbie Valentine (74-82-74--230); T17. Alex Dolle (78-74-83--235); 33. Ben Pellicani (90-79-79--248); 40. Chris Martinez (89-85-82--256); T45. Brian Troast (88-89-88--265).

2004
Course: Seven Oaks G.C. (Hamilton, N.Y.)
Team Champion: Army (320-302-308--930)
Bucknell Finish: 4th (319-311-316--946)
Bucknell Individuals: 6. Charlie Waddell (80-78-75--233); 12. Tom Lane (81-78-78--237); T13. Ben Pellicani (79-79-80--238); T13. Patrick Yingling (79-76-83--238); T28. Abbie Valentine (83-80-84--247); T36. Alex Dolle (86-84-84--254).

2005
Course: Bucknell G.C. (Lewisburg, Pa.)
Team Champion: Army (284-283-293--860)
Bucknell Finish: 2nd (286-282-299--867)
Bucknell Individuals: 1. Charlie Waddell (67-71-71--209); 2. Ben Pellicani (71-65-74--210); T16. Keita Aoki (74-73-79--226); T16. Kyle Moran (75-75-76--226); T30. Tom Lane (74-79-78--231); T30. Patrick Yingling (79-73-79--231).

2006
Course: U.S. Naval Academy G.C. (Annapolis, Md.)
Team Champion: Bucknell (299-298-299--896)
Bucknell Individuals: 1. Charlie Waddell (69-70-71--210); 11. Ben Pellicani (77-76-78--231); T12. Kyle Moran (77-76-80--233); T20. Rahul Desai (76-79-80--235); T22. Patrick Yingling (87-76-73--236); T29. Keita Aoki (85-80-77--242).

2007
Course: Bucknell G.C. (Lewisburg, Pa.)
Team Champion: Bucknell (291-297-295--883)
Bucknell Individuals: 3. Charlie Waddell (74-73-68--215); T4. Andrew Cohen (72-74-74--220); T6. Keita Aoki (73-76-73--222); T19. Rahul Desai (72-76-80--228); T30. Kyle Moran (75-74-83--232); T32. Stuart Lindgren (76-77-80--233).

2008
Course: Saucon Valley C.C. (Bethlehem, Pa.)
Team Champion: Navy (311-307-307--925)
Bucknell Finish: 2nd (322-303-317--942)
Bucknell Individuals: 4. Rahul Desai (79-74-78--231); 6. Andrew Cohen (80-73-82--235); 16. Stuart Lindgren (82-80-80--242); T17. Ben Mattingly (81-81-81--243); T17. Brian Bartow (89-76-78--243); 19. Keita Aoki (83-80-81--252).

2009
Course: West Point (N.Y.) G.C.
Team Champion: Bucknell (295-297-292--884)
Bucknell Individuals: 1. Andrew Cohen (71-68-69--208); T9. Brian Bartow (77-76-74--227); T11. Ben Mattingly (79-76-73--228); T18. Will Bachman (69-81-81--231); T20. Andrew Wallisch (80-77-76--233); 36. Parker Phillips (78-83-83--244).

2010
Course: Seven Oaks G.C. (Hamilton, N.Y.)
Team Champion: Lafayette (303-295-304--902)
Bucknell Finish: 5th (308-302-307)
Bucknell Individuals: T10. Andrew Cohen (77-77-75--229); Ryan Schneiter (74-78-77--229); T17. Brian Bartow (79-73-78--230); T28. Ben Mattingly (80-79-77--236); 30. Will Bachman (78-76-85--239); 31. Jeff Pike (81-76-83--240).

2011
Course: U.S. Naval Academy G.C. (Annapolis, Md.)
Team Champion: Army (293-287-290--870)
Bucknell Finish: T5th (300-305-295--900)
Bucknell Individuals: T13. Schuyler Stitzer (75-76-72--223); 16. Jon Hartman (75-78-72--225); T17. Will Bachman (73-73-80--226); T22. Parker Phillips (77-79-74--230); T26. Ben Mattingly (77-78-77--232); T35. Dan Bernard (79-82-78-- 239).

2012
Course: Bucknell G.C. (Lewisburg, Pa.)
Team Champion: Navy (288-290-300--878)
Bucknell Finish: 4th (293-293-306--892)
Bucknell Individuals: 2. Peter Scialabba (69-72-76--217); T16. Dan Bernard (74-70-83--227); T19. Schuyler Stitzer (75-76-77--228); T19. J.J. Szmadzinski (79-75-74--228); T32. Jon Hartman (75-83-79--237); T39. Will Bachman (77-85-79--241).

2013
Course: Saucon Valley C.C. (Bethlehem, Pa.)
Team Champion: Lehigh (299-296-303--898)
Bucknell Finish: 4th (307-312-310--925)
Bucknell Individuals: T4. Schuyler Stitzer (72-77-77--226); 16. Dan Bernard (76-79-79--234); T18. Zach Pogust (82-81-74--237); T18. Billy Wright (80-77-80--237); T30. Peter Scialabba (79-81-85--245); T32. Thomas Walter (81-79-86--246).

2014
Course: West Point G.C. (West Point, N.Y.)
Team Champion: Loyola (287-283-291--861)
Bucknell Finish: 5th (306-299-297--902)
Bucknell Individuals: T11. Schuyler Stitzer (75-72-75--222); T21. Peter Scialabba (75-74-80--229); 24. John Edler (77-82-72--231); T27. Zach Pogust (79-75-79--233); T36. D.J. Magee (84-80-74--238); T36. Thomas Walter (84-78-76--238).

2015
Course: Seven Oaks G.C. (Hamilton, N.Y.)
Team Champion: Loyola (287-281-294--862)
Bucknell Finish: 7th (311-305-313--929)
Bucknell Individuals: T20. John Edler (77-76-77--230); T20. Peter Scialabba (77-76-77--230); T22. Daniel Levin (80-74-77--231); T37. D.J. Magee(77-79-83--239); 44. C.J. Zachary (82-82-82--246); 45. Zachary Melnick (85-82-82--249).

2016
Course: U.S. Naval Academy G.C. (Annapolis, Md.)
Team Champion: Army (284-284-282--850)
Bucknell Finish: 4th (300-290-305--895)
Bucknell Individuals: T2. J.P. Raftery (71-67-73--211); T17. Jubal Early (76-74-76--226); T21. Conor O'Brien (76-72-81--229); 32. John Edler (77-78-79--234); T33. Daniel Levin (77-81-77--235); T39. D.J. Magee (80-77-81--238).

2017
Course: Bucknell G.C. (Lewisburg, Pa.)
Team Champion: Loyola (280-274-281--835)
Bucknell Finish: 3rd (276-285-284--845)
Bucknell Individuals: 2. J.P. Raftery (67-68-69--204); T7. Jubal Early (67-73-72--212); T13. D.J. Magee (70-73-71--214); T26. Peter Bradbeer (74-71-75--220); T31. John Edler (78-73-72--223); T31. Connor O'Brien (72-79-72--223).

2018
Course: Saucon Valley C.C. (Bethlehem, Pa.)
Team Champion: Navy (290-308-297--895)
Bucknell Finish: 5th (296-307-306--908)
Bucknell Individuals: T6. Peter Bradbeer (69-81-74--224), 9. J.P. Raftery (75- 74-78--227), T10. Connor O'Brien (75-77-76--228), T33. Chris Tanabe (80-79-77- -236), T35. Jubal Early (77-77-83--237), 48. Ashton Radvansky (86-87-80--253).

2019
Course: Seven Oaks G.C. (Hamilton, N.Y.)
Team Champion: Army (302-285-278--865)
Bucknell Finish: 4th (300-286-293--879)
Bucknell Individuals: T7. Chris Tanabe (74-72-73--219), T13. Connor O'Brien (77-71-73--221), T17. J.P. Raftery (78-69-75--222), T20. Jason Lohwater (76-75-72--223), T28. Peter Bradbeer (74-74-78--226), T39. Jubal Early (76-74-81--231).

2020
Course: Hollywood G.C. (Deal, N.J.)
Team Champion: Tournament canceled due to COVID-19

BUCKNELL PL TOURNAMENT RECORDS
Team Individual
Low Any 18 276 (2017) 65 (Ben Pellicani, 2005)
Low First 36 561 (2017) 135 (J.P. Raftery, 2017)
Low 54 845 (2017) 204 (J.P. Raftery, 2017)
Best Finish 1st ('06, '07, '09) 1st (Charlie Waddell, 2005, 2006)
1st (Andrew Cohen, 2009)