The Rutgers men's golf team placed 12th in a 23-team field at the rain-shortened Hartford Hawks Invitational in North Falmouth, MA. The Scarlet Knights shot a 605 (301-304), lead by junior James Arbes.
Arbes completed the event tied for 25th in the 117-player pool. He led all Knights for the second straight tournament with a 148 (74-74) on the par 72 course.
"Jimmy was very consistent, as his score indicates," head coach Maura Waters-Ballard said, "But everyone contributed."
Juniors James Hilaire and Benjamin Bershad were next on the scorecard, with a 152 (73-79) and 153 (79-74) respectively. Junior J.F. Sorbella shot a 156 (75-81) and senior Isaac Lim totaled 157 (80-77).
"Everyone had a very good day and an average day," Waters-Ballard said.
The inclement weather had a lot to do with the average scores.
Due to rain, Saturday's practice round and Sunday's first round of play were cancelled. This meant RU had to attack the course blindly.
"It was a very demanding course," Arbes said. "Not having practice only added to the difficulty. But rain or no rain, it was a new experience."
The soggy, 6,928-yard course played like it was much longer.
"[The course] was very tight so it demanded a good tee and second shot," Arbes said. "If you didn't get it on the safe side of the fairway or green you would be stuck trying to dig it out of the wet rough."
The unforgiving high-grass caused Hilaire to shoot five over par on the 12th hole of the second day. A par would have made him the leader of the Scarlet squad.
"We were only a handful of shots back from beating some top 100 schools." Arbes said. "So I'm very proud of how our team performed."
In the end, no one could match Baylor University. The Bears shot a 566, which was 10 strokes ahead of second place North Carolina State. The Wolfpack sophomore Matt Hill stood alone atop the leaderboard, carding a 131 (66-65). Hill beat out Baylor Bear junior Colton Williams, the runner up, by nine strokes.
The Knights hope to build on their performance next weekend. On Oct. 4-5 they will travel to Stanton, Del. for the Scotty Duncan Memorial.
"After facing some of the best competition of our season," Waters-Ballard said, "I think we can carry this into next week and place well."
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