The golf team, in its final tournament before this weekend’s Patriot League Championship, placed sixth out of 18 teams at the Navy Invitational in Annapolis, Maryland. Navy’s “White” team was the only Patriot League squad to edge out the Raiders, who placed in front of Lafayette (eighth), Lehigh (tied ninth), Navy (tied ninth) and preseason favorite Bucknell (15th).

Johnson & Wales won the tournament with a two-round score of 579 on the par-71, 6,528-yard Naval Academy Golf course. The Raiders shot a 605 (303-302) to finish sixth, just three strokes behind fourth-place St. Francis.

Leading the way for Colgate were junior David Ake, first-year Ben Jessen and senior Montek Mayal, all of whom tied for 26th with a stroke total of 151. Senior Keaton Cross was the only other Raider to have his rounds count both days, as his matching rounds of 76 put him in a tie for 33rd.

Colgate, which has had a surprising spring season with three top-7 finishes in four tournaments, now heads into undoubtedly its biggest tournament-the Patriot League Championship. While most students will be basking in the warm Hamilton sun this upcoming Spring Party Weekend, the Raiders will battle for the league title at Army’s West Point Golf Course, a place that most Raiders are unfamiliar with.

Unlike most tournaments, teams will have the luxury of bringing along a sixth golfer for the league championship, while the four lowest rounds will count.

Seniors Cross, Mayal and Matt Seconi, who will all graduate in May, have led a team that has finished fifth in the Patriot League three consecutive seasons to its best season in recent memory, and the trio will consider anything less than a Patriot League Title as a disappointment.

Though not initially regarded as a contender, the Raiders are perhaps a favorite heading into this weekend, and a victory would bring the Patriot League title to Colgate for the first time in school history.