Update from Head Men's Golf Coach Mike Binney -- October 2023
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Hello, Bison Golf Nation!
We are only a few days from our annual home invitational, and I wanted to update everyone on the team’s progress at the midpoint of the fall season. We’ve had a mix of nice and not-so-nice weather at our first three events, but we’ve managed to navigate through to achieve some solid results thus far in the 2023–2024 campaign.
In our first two events, Colgate and Cornell, we posted solid results in back-to-back weeks in early September, and the squad responded with some outstanding performances. In our first event at Colgate, the team finished 4th out of 12 in a competitive event. Yale played very well, posting a (-11) team total over the 54 holes and beating the field by 17 strokes. Although the Bison finished 4th, we had some solid performances, most notably by sophomore James Robbins, who posted a (+3) total of 219, with a low round of -2 (70) in the second round. James’ performance was good enough for 12th place, just missing out on a top-10 by one stroke. Close on his heels was first-year Alex Creamean, who posted 223 for three rounds and, after a slow start (79) in the first round, bounced back to shoot even par over the final 36 holes. Rounding out the Bison squad, we had three more players in the top 30 of the 82-player field. Hayden Quinn, only one stroke behind his roommate, posted a 224 total, and sophomores Lyman Brackett and Andres Barraza were two strokes behind at 226. Sophomore Jake Maddaloni was only three strokes behind them at 229, and everyone finished in the top half of the field. Since it was a six-count-four format, precisely what our Patriot League format is, everyone’s score counted at least once during the 54-hole event. I’m proud of how these guys played coming out of the gate, especially for such a young squad.
With little rest, the squad headed for Cornell’s event the following weekend, hosted at Watchung Valley GC, just outside the city. Playing during the 9/11 weekend and within a stone’s throw of NYC, it was a sobering reminder of the terror we endured 22 years ago. The Cornell Invite was a 36-hole, two-day event played in tough conditions. Watchung Valley is an old Seth Raynor track, developed in the mid-1920s and, despite some weather challenges, was a great layout. The toughest part of the weekend (for me) was that the course didn’t allow the coaches to have carts on the first day, so chugging around with a backpack filled with water bottles and snacks forced the coach to get his “steps” in on the first round! Hayden Quinn was the outstanding golfer of the weekend for the Bison, posting a (-3) total with scores of 71/68 to finish T3 in the 67-player field. Hayden’s performance paved the way for a Bison repeat 4th place finish in another strong field. Jake Maddaloni placed 21st in the field at (+5) with rounds of 72/75. James Key, James Robbins, and Andres Barraza were only two strokes behind, all at (+7), and Alex Creamean was 2-strokes back at (+9). During the campaign, the Bison counted no score higher than 75 and shot 290/288 for the 36-hole event. When we dried out and headed home, we collectively agreed that we had played well over the previous two weeks but hadn’t played our best golf yet. With this kind of confidence, we set our sights on our next tournament, the Macdonald Cup, hosted by Yale on its famed golf course.
If anyone has played the course recently you would have noticed that it could be in better shape. The course will undergo a complete renovation over the next two years. The renovation will begin next week, and they will lay 25+ miles of irrigation and 20+ miles of drainage pipes, redo all 18 greens to USGA Turfgrass specifications, and overhaul the driving range and clubhouse. I told the squad it was a historic event for us as we would play the last Maconald Cup on the "old" course. As the event drew closer, the forecast looked terrible; we were not disappointed as it rained off and on for 54 holes, with the worst in the second round of the 36-hole first day. Despite the challenges, we hung together and ground our way through the tournament to a solo 7th finish in the 12-team field. In our toughest competition of the fall campaign, we held our own against some excellent teams and posted team scores of 295, 303, and 292. Individual highlights included a stellar (+4) 72/73/69 performance from Alex Creamean to finish tied for third, the best outing of his college career so far. Another strong performance was turned in by James Key with rounds of 71/74/78 to finish in the top-25 of a highly ranked field that included Yale’s squad and power-5 Big East schools Seton Hall and Georgetown. Although not the worst weather we’ve played in, I would include it in my “top-5” of all time. The only thing worse was the drive home, as we had torrential rains for most of the trip and only broke out into glimmers of sunshine during the last 20 miles. Challenges aside, we made it safely home and no worse for the ware.
With just under a week until our home invitational, we are concentrating on playing the course as much as possible and exploiting our home course advantage to the maximum extent possible. Each year, I say it, and this year is no exception; this is the strongest field we’ve had for our invite in the ten years I’ve been here. We have 18 visiting teams, plus our squad, making it one of the largest we’ll see all year. Since we do it over fall break and play the 54-hole event over three days, it is one of the more competitive events in the northeast region.
We’ll be finishing up our qualifying today for the invite, and if you’d like to follow along online, the live scoring will be on GolfStat.com. If you’re in the Lewisburg area next week, please check out the competition on October 8-10 (Sunday/Monday/Tuesday).
Coach
Mike Binney
Head Men's Golf Coach
Bucknell University
mwb013@bucknell.edu
Past Newsletters:
Bison Club support is the driving force behind Bucknell Athletics. Your donations directly impact the holistic development of student-athletes from 27 Division I varsity programs who are building a foundation at Bucknell to become leaders and difference-makers around the globe. Make your gift online, or call 570-577-1771 to support your favorite Bison team today.
We are only a few days from our annual home invitational, and I wanted to update everyone on the team’s progress at the midpoint of the fall season. We’ve had a mix of nice and not-so-nice weather at our first three events, but we’ve managed to navigate through to achieve some solid results thus far in the 2023–2024 campaign.
In our first two events, Colgate and Cornell, we posted solid results in back-to-back weeks in early September, and the squad responded with some outstanding performances. In our first event at Colgate, the team finished 4th out of 12 in a competitive event. Yale played very well, posting a (-11) team total over the 54 holes and beating the field by 17 strokes. Although the Bison finished 4th, we had some solid performances, most notably by sophomore James Robbins, who posted a (+3) total of 219, with a low round of -2 (70) in the second round. James’ performance was good enough for 12th place, just missing out on a top-10 by one stroke. Close on his heels was first-year Alex Creamean, who posted 223 for three rounds and, after a slow start (79) in the first round, bounced back to shoot even par over the final 36 holes. Rounding out the Bison squad, we had three more players in the top 30 of the 82-player field. Hayden Quinn, only one stroke behind his roommate, posted a 224 total, and sophomores Lyman Brackett and Andres Barraza were two strokes behind at 226. Sophomore Jake Maddaloni was only three strokes behind them at 229, and everyone finished in the top half of the field. Since it was a six-count-four format, precisely what our Patriot League format is, everyone’s score counted at least once during the 54-hole event. I’m proud of how these guys played coming out of the gate, especially for such a young squad.
With little rest, the squad headed for Cornell’s event the following weekend, hosted at Watchung Valley GC, just outside the city. Playing during the 9/11 weekend and within a stone’s throw of NYC, it was a sobering reminder of the terror we endured 22 years ago. The Cornell Invite was a 36-hole, two-day event played in tough conditions. Watchung Valley is an old Seth Raynor track, developed in the mid-1920s and, despite some weather challenges, was a great layout. The toughest part of the weekend (for me) was that the course didn’t allow the coaches to have carts on the first day, so chugging around with a backpack filled with water bottles and snacks forced the coach to get his “steps” in on the first round! Hayden Quinn was the outstanding golfer of the weekend for the Bison, posting a (-3) total with scores of 71/68 to finish T3 in the 67-player field. Hayden’s performance paved the way for a Bison repeat 4th place finish in another strong field. Jake Maddaloni placed 21st in the field at (+5) with rounds of 72/75. James Key, James Robbins, and Andres Barraza were only two strokes behind, all at (+7), and Alex Creamean was 2-strokes back at (+9). During the campaign, the Bison counted no score higher than 75 and shot 290/288 for the 36-hole event. When we dried out and headed home, we collectively agreed that we had played well over the previous two weeks but hadn’t played our best golf yet. With this kind of confidence, we set our sights on our next tournament, the Macdonald Cup, hosted by Yale on its famed golf course.
If anyone has played the course recently you would have noticed that it could be in better shape. The course will undergo a complete renovation over the next two years. The renovation will begin next week, and they will lay 25+ miles of irrigation and 20+ miles of drainage pipes, redo all 18 greens to USGA Turfgrass specifications, and overhaul the driving range and clubhouse. I told the squad it was a historic event for us as we would play the last Maconald Cup on the "old" course. As the event drew closer, the forecast looked terrible; we were not disappointed as it rained off and on for 54 holes, with the worst in the second round of the 36-hole first day. Despite the challenges, we hung together and ground our way through the tournament to a solo 7th finish in the 12-team field. In our toughest competition of the fall campaign, we held our own against some excellent teams and posted team scores of 295, 303, and 292. Individual highlights included a stellar (+4) 72/73/69 performance from Alex Creamean to finish tied for third, the best outing of his college career so far. Another strong performance was turned in by James Key with rounds of 71/74/78 to finish in the top-25 of a highly ranked field that included Yale’s squad and power-5 Big East schools Seton Hall and Georgetown. Although not the worst weather we’ve played in, I would include it in my “top-5” of all time. The only thing worse was the drive home, as we had torrential rains for most of the trip and only broke out into glimmers of sunshine during the last 20 miles. Challenges aside, we made it safely home and no worse for the ware.
With just under a week until our home invitational, we are concentrating on playing the course as much as possible and exploiting our home course advantage to the maximum extent possible. Each year, I say it, and this year is no exception; this is the strongest field we’ve had for our invite in the ten years I’ve been here. We have 18 visiting teams, plus our squad, making it one of the largest we’ll see all year. Since we do it over fall break and play the 54-hole event over three days, it is one of the more competitive events in the northeast region.
We’ll be finishing up our qualifying today for the invite, and if you’d like to follow along online, the live scoring will be on GolfStat.com. If you’re in the Lewisburg area next week, please check out the competition on October 8-10 (Sunday/Monday/Tuesday).
Coach
Mike Binney
Head Men's Golf Coach
Bucknell University
mwb013@bucknell.edu
Past Newsletters:
Bison Club support is the driving force behind Bucknell Athletics. Your donations directly impact the holistic development of student-athletes from 27 Division I varsity programs who are building a foundation at Bucknell to become leaders and difference-makers around the globe. Make your gift online, or call 570-577-1771 to support your favorite Bison team today.