The Colgate golf team started its spring schedule on the right note, placing seventh out of 22 teams at the George Washington Invitational in Bethany Beach, Delaware over the weekend.

Teams battled tough conditions at the par-72, 6,834-yard Bear Trap Dunes Golf Club, causing scores to be much higher than usual.

“The conditions were really bad during the first round,” first-year Chase Williams said. “The wind and cold temperatures made it very difficult to post low scores.”

The Raiders found themselves in third place after the first day of competition, despite shooting a mediocre 305, as most players struggled to find their rhythm in the windy conditions. The score was good enough to put them in front of some golf powerhouses, so the Raiders were more than pleased.

“After the first round, we were beating schools like Boston College and George Washington and it definitely felt like the hard work had paid off,” Williams said.

Unfortunately the second day of the tournament did not prove as kind to the Raiders, as a handful of teams leapt in front of them, including eventual winner Rhode Island. Colgate was still pleased with the seventh-place finish however.

The Raiders were led by junior Dave Ake and first-year Ben Jessen, who had identical scores of 75 on the first day and 77 on the second day to finish tied for 16th place in a field of over 100 golfers. Senior captain Keaton Cross (74-80, T-25) and first-year Chase Williams (81-80, T-60) rounded out the scoring for the Raiders. Senior Montek Mayal, competing as an individual, fired a 76-78 to finish in a tie for 25th.

Yet another positive for Colgate coming out of the tournament was that the Raiders were the highest placing Patriot League team, finishing ahead of three other foes.

“We know that Navy and Bucknell will be the toughest competition at Patriots and having beat both of them this weekend gave us a lot of confidence going into the Spring season,” Williams said.

Although Colgate did not finish in first at the George Washington Invitational, this weekend will certainly be one that the team looks back on after the season as a building block for things to come.