After consecutive wins, men’s golf gears up for CC championships

With just a couple weeks remaining prior to the start of the Centennial Conference golf tournament

and with the team looking to put together a nice run to gain momentum going into the tournament, the men’s golf team rose to the occasion, proving they can play with—and beat—any team in the conference.

Going into the two tournaments last week, the team had turned in a mediocre performance at the Rochester Invitational in Hershey, Pa., placing 11th out of the 15 teams in the tournament.

It was a step backward for the Dips, as they had triumphed just several days earlier at Moravian by one stroke to take first place. With that in mind, it was crucial for the team to perform well at its two tournaments early in the week: at the F&M Invitational at Bent Creek on Monday and at the Ursinus Invitational at Stone Wall on Tuesday.

And perform they did.

Led by captain Andrew Woods ’10, F&M was able to handle the 17-team field at Bent Creek Monday, winning by six strokes over Messiah.

Woods turned in a stellar performance for F&M, shooting a round of -1, which tied him for first overall individually. While Woods wasn’t able to take home the top individual honors after losing in a tiebreaker decided by the number of birdies on the back nine holes, he still said he was happy with his performance and that he was just glad the team was able to compete at such a high level.

“I was pretty satisfied with my play overall and that the team recaptured our championship after placing second in the fall,” Woods said.

In addition to Woods’ great round, Danny Liebowitz ’12 also performed well for the Diplomats, turning in an even round on the day. Woods and Liebowitz were two of only three golfers to turn in rounds of even or better at the tournament.

After reestablishing themselves with their win Monday, the Dips turned their attention to Tuesday, when they traveled to Ursinus to compete in the 13-team field at the Stone Wall Country Club looking to keep their winning ways alive.

If the Dips were dominant Monday, they were even more so Tuesday, turning in a team score of +21, beating the second-place team Dickinson by 11 strokes.

F&M turned to a familiar face to lead the team once again, as Woods this time was able to take home the top individual honors outright this time, going +2 on the day.

Right on his tail was another Diplomat, this time Brendan Mohler ’12, who shot +4 on the day and was second individually at the tournament.

Liebowitz and Cameron Warner ’12 also placed in the top ten for the Diplomats, shooting +7 and +8, respectively.

Following the tournament, Woods was impressed with the resilience the team displayed in the less-than-ideal weather conditions and mentioned that the tournament would serve the team well come conference tournament time, as the field at Ursinus featured many conference rivals.

“Tuesday’s tournament was very important as we competed in a field that was comprised of many conference rivals,” Woods said. “After playing, I was very pleased with teams’ performance as everyone seemed to handle the tough weather conditions quite well. The tournament was a great warm-up for our team as the Centennial Conference championship is just around the corner.”

Warner wasn’t shy about how his team performed against the conference rivals at Ursinus, and he singled out Woods, Liebowitz, and Mohler as three guys performing well as the season winds down.

“We are on fire right now,” Warner said. “Our top guy Woods is scorching up the links … Danny [Liebowitz] and Brendan [Mohler] are playing fantastic. I feel really good. We threw a beat-down on a bunch of conference teams last week, so I feel good.”

This week features just one tournament on the schedule, as the team travels to Harrisburg, Pa. to face off at the Messiah College Falcon Classic at the Blue Ridge Country Club.

Last season, F&M won the tournament with a team score of +24 and won the tournament by 10 strokes over second-place Marymount University. Warner won the individual honors, recording a round of +1.

Warner said that he felt good about the team’s chances of repeating as champions, saying he had confidence in the team’s younger golfers to step up to the challenge in the absence of some of the better golfers on the team.

“I feel pretty good [about defending our title],” Warner said. “Three of the top four guys aren’t playing, but we got some great freshmen and great sophomores who are going to get an opportunity to prove their worth. I feel pretty good about defending.”

Following the Falcon Classic Tuesday, the Dips will then set their sights on the Centennial Conference championships April 24 and 25 at Stonewall Country Club.

While the Dips were able to take care of business against many of their Centennial Conference rivals this past week at Ursinus, it will still be a challenging tournament for F&M and the team will be looking to fine-tune its collective game going into it.

“I think that practicing will be a key objective with the conference championship just around the corner,” Woods said. “If everyone focuses and maintains their quality level of play, then we should have a great chance to win again this year.”