The Colgate golf team traveled to Farmingdale, NY to compete in the Doc Gimmler Invitational at the Red Course at Bethpage State Park this past weekend. The Raiders finished in eighth place with a three round score of 862 (+22). Junior Ryan Allison led the way once again as he fired three consecutive rounds of 71 to finish at 3-over and tied for 19th. Junior Chris Wilson matched Allison’s big performance with a 3-over finish highlighted by a first round even par 70 performance. The two captains were able to propel the Raiders into one of their best statistical tournaments in program history.

Despite their eighth-place finish, the Raiders broke the program record for the lowest 18, 36 and 54-hole team stroke totals. Sophomore Armando Olivieri fired a career low 1-over par 71 in his second round of play. Olivieri made eight birdies in the tournament while finishing tied for second in par-3 and par-5 scoring for the weekend. Junior Henry Wesson shot an opening round 72 before only shooting matching rounds of 75 in rounds two and three. Junior Ian Lynch also added a final round 72, paired with rounds of 77 and 76, to finish in 47th place.

The Raiders will continue their grueling stretch of consecutive tournaments as they travel to Ithaca, NY next weekend to compete in the Cornell Invitational. It will be the team’s third tournament in as many weeks and with three more successive weekends of golf following that, the mental fortitude of this team will be greatly challenged. Colgate will also look to get great play from sophomore Scott Adams and first-year Danny Bugniazet, who did not compete this weekend.

If the Raiders can continue to put up great statistical numbers, their promising early season performances will begin to pay great dividends on the leaderboard. With strong play at the top from Allison and Wilson each week, the Raiders must get consistent rounds from Wesson, Olivieri and Adams to fill the void left by the departure of sophomore Matt Cutcliffe who left the team for personal reasons. The golf team will need repeat performances from their underclassmen in order to build on their recent success.

The Yale Bulldogs ran away with the tournament as they finished with a score of 825 (-15), 13 strokes clear of second place finisher Johnson & Wales (Fla.).