Men's Golf Heads to Steel Club Sunday for ABARTA Coca-Cola Collegiate Challenge

Setting the Scene
What: 2022 ABARTA Coca-Cola Collegiate Invitational, hosted by Lafayette
When: Sunday-Monday, April 10-11
Where: Par-72, 6,875-yard Steel Club, Hellertown, Pa.
The Field: 18 Teams (Bucknell, Canisius, Colgate, Fordham, Fairfield, Holy Cross, Iona, Lehigh, Monmouth, Mount St. Mary's, Navy, Niagara, Robert Morris, St. Bonaventure, Siena, Towson, Rhode Island, Villanova)

Live Scoring: GolfStat.com

About the Bison

Bucknell has two tournaments remaining prior to the Patriot League Championship on Apr. 29-May 1, and this week the Bison will get a look at the championship course when it tees it up at the ABARTA Coca-Cola Collegiate Invitational at the Steel Club.
Bucknell is enjoying a strong spring season, with a 292.4 team average and a pair of top-3 finishes. The Bison began the spring with a runner-up finish at the Veterans Intercollegiate in Florida; they posted two sub-par team scores in an eighth-place finish at the Loyola Intercollegiate in Arizona; and most recently they placed third out of 21 teams at the Battle at Rum Pointe near Ocean City, Md.
Senior Jason Lohwater has been terrific in his final season in Orange & Blue. Lohwater has shot even-par or better in each of his last five rounds (70-70-72-69-72), highlighted by a season-best 69 in the opening round at Rum Pointe, and is a combined 7-under over the last two tournaments. Lohwater has lowered his team-best spring scoring average to 72.4, and his full-season average of 73.6 is second-best on the squad behind Jackson Bussell's 73.0.
Lohwater's T-3rd finish at Rum Pointe is his career best. He finished T-10th in the previous event in Arizona.
Blake Wisdom also has a top-10 this spring with a 9th-place effort (74-71-71) at the Veterans Intercollegiate at Orange County National. Wisdom has broken par in three of his eight spring rounds, leading to a stellar 72.9 average.
Lohwater, Wisdom, Michael Rudnick, Jack Gardner, and Bussell will be in the lineup this week.
The Bison competed in five fall events, highlighted by a win at the Howard Bison Invitational and a runner-up finish at the Bucknell Invitational.

The ABARTA Coca-Cola Collegiate Invitational

Bucknell will be playing in Lafayette's spring invitational for the 14th time, and for the first time since 2019. This will be the Bison's fifth appearance at the Steel Club, which was formerly known as Silver Creek Country Club.
The Bison finished first as a team at the Lafayette Invitational in 2008, when it was held at Center Valley GC. Bucknell was in eighth place and 14 strokes off the lead entering the final round, but then finished with a 291 to beat first-round leader Drexel by a three-shot margin. Ben Mattingly led the way with a 1-under 71, and Andrew Cohen and Stuart Lindgren both closed with 73s.
Hall-of-Famers Cohen and Charlie Waddell, along with recent graduate Chris Tanabe are individual winners in events hosted by Lafayette. Waddell posted a 2-under 70 to win the rain-shortened Lafayette Invitational in 2007. Cohen's final-round 6-under 66 – the first 6-under round in program history – helped him win the 2010 Lafayette Invitational at Center Valley. Tanabe shot 69-72 to win by one shot at Steel Club in 2019.
Jason Lohwater is the only active Bison who has played in a collegiate event at Steel Club. He shot 78-77 there as a freshman in 2019.
Lehigh is the defending champion in this event, posting 278-296 for a 2-under total of 574 last spring. Villanova's Ambrose Abbracciamento was the medalist at 8-under 136 (70-66). Bucknell did not attend last season's tournament.

Next Up

Bucknell will play in Villanova's Wildcat Invitational on Apr. 18-19 before heading back to Steel Club for the Patriot League Championship Apr. 29-May 1.

Men's Golf Heads to Steel Club Sunday for ABARTA Coca-Cola Collegiate Challenge

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jackson Bussell

Jack Gardner

Jason Lohwater

Michael Rudnick

Chris Tanabe

Blake Wisdom

Men's Golf Heads to Steel Club Sunday for ABARTA Coca-Cola Collegiate Challenge

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jackson Bussell

Jack Gardner

Jason Lohwater

Michael Rudnick

Chris Tanabe

Blake Wisdom

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