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Bonnies bound for Old Dominion

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By Harrison Leone
Staff Writer

With the fall season coming to a close for  men’s golf,  the last challenge for St. Bonaventure will come this weekend when they travel to Powell’s Point, N.C. for the Old Dominion Collegiate Tournament. The three-day event begins on Sunday and continues through Tuesday.

“Some of the best teams from up and down the East Coast are going to be there,” Coach John Powers said. “It always attracts a very strong field.”

Powers has his sights set high for the tournament.

“Finishing in the top five would be our goal this weekend,” he said. “We have to put together a game plan that will put us in the best position to win. We have to minimize the impact of our mistakes.”

Freshman Josh Stauffer echoed his coach’s sentiment.

Everyone’s doing their routines and really getting after it,” Stauffer said. “We’re looking to have a pretty good turnout.”

The Old Dominion tournament is the first competition the Bonnies have participated in since they logged a seventh place finish at the Binghamton Invitational Oct. 8. St. Bonaventure shot a 606 over the two-day event, finishing 20 strokes off the lead. Laval University, located in Quebec City, Canada, finished first at the tournament out of a field of 15 schools. Local rivals Bucknell and Cornell competed at Binghamton, as well as fellow A-10 member Fordham.

“We hit the ball well, but we didn’t really have anything to show for it at the end,” Powers said.

The Bonnies closed the first day of play tied for fifth place, shooting a 302. On Sunday, St. Bonaventure shot a 304 as a team.

“Small mistakes can make all the difference in golf,” Powers said. “They can be the difference between finishing second and finishing seventh.”

Stauffer set the pace for the SBU squad, continuing on his successful freshman campaign. The Bradford native shot a 145 at the tournament, which was good for fourth place in the individual standings. Stauffer finished five strokes off the leader Ujo Coussaud from Laval University.

“I was definitely happy with what I shot,” Stauffer said.

Powers praised Stauffer’s performance.

“He’s been so steady this whole year,” Powers said. “His transition to this level of competition was seamless.”

The Old Dominion Tournament will be the closing event of the fall season for St. Bonaventure. The fall saw the Bonnies log two second place finishes and one sixth place finish in addition to the Leo Keenan Invitational victory in Olean.

“We’ve seen some success, but we would like to see that sustained a little bit more going forward,” Powers said.

Stauffer said his team has pulled together well so far.

“Depth has been our biggest strength so far this year,” Stauffer said.

As the calendar shifts to 2013, Coach Powers stressed his goals for the team to stay committed and on-task.

“We have to remain focused on the process,” said Powers. “We have to remember to take it one round and hole at a time.”

leonehj11@bonaventure.edu

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