Men’s Golf Moves Up to T-5th Finish, Creamean Named Rookie of Year as Patriot League Championship Concludes at Saucon Valley

Sunday, April 28

Bethlehem, Pa. (Saucon Valley CC)

All Day

Bucknell University

Patriot League Championship

Men’s Golf Moves Up to T-5th Finish, Creamean Named Rookie of Year as Patriot League Championship Concludes at Saucon Valley

4/28/2024 6:54:00 PM | Men's Golf

RESULTS

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Freshman Alex Creamean fired a 1-under-par 71 and was later voted the Patriot League Rookie of the Year, and sophomore Andres Barraza shot 74 to secure a top-10 finish and Second Team All-Patriot League honors, leading the Bucknell men's golf team to a 299 team score on the final day of the 2024 Patriot League Championship at Saucon Valley Country Club. The Bison finished in a three-way tie for fifth along with Lafayette and Holy Cross with 905 totals over the 54 holes.

Barraza followed his 73-76 start with a 2-over 74 on Sunday. His 7-over 223 total put him in a three-way tie for 10th place, and the sophomore earned an all-league medal for the first time.

Andres Barraza All-PL

After struggling on the first two days, Creamean was outstanding on Sunday. He made an eagle at the par-5 10th hole to go with 16 pars. His only blemish was a bogey at 16, but his 71 was tied for the low round of the day in the field. Creamean finished 20th with a 54-hole total of 228.

Bucknell also counted a pair of 77s from freshman Hayden Quinn and junior Michael Rudnick.

Led by medalist Carlo Pizzano, Loyola won the team title with an 881 total. Colgate was a distant second at 894, followed by Navy (896) and Lehigh (897).

Despite bogeying four of his last six holes Pizzano held on to win the individual title by one shot over teammate James Rico and Navy's Jack Tarzy. Pizzano shot 73-71-74 for a 2-over total of 218. The co-runners-up also shot 74 on Sunday.

Creamean entered the weekend with a 72.6 scoring average, which was the best among all Patriot League freshmen. The highlights of his outstanding campaign included a win at the Veterans Intercollegiate at Sebonack GC in October, and a school-record 64 in the second round at the Loyola Invitational. That was part of an incredible stretch where Creamean shot under par in 9 of 12 rounds.

Creamean is the fourth Bucknell player to earn Rookie of the Year honors and the first to do so since the award was changed last year to be determined by a vote of the league's head coaches based on full-season performance. Bucknell's previous ROYs were Andrew Cohen in 2007, Peter Scialabba in 2012, and JP Raftery in 2016.