Endicott Finishes in 17th Place Following Second Day Surge

MIDDLEBURY, Vt.- After sitting in a tie for 20th on day one of the 31st Duke Nelson Invitational at the Ralph Myre Golf Course, Endicott saw all of their golfers improve their scores on day two to finish in 17th place out of 25 teams consisting of 128 golfers.  The Invitational, annually one of the most difficult in the New England region, was one by Resnsselaer Tech. with a combined team score of 605, while the Gulls recorded a team score of 653.

Endicott struggled on day one, accumulating a score of 337, with a low score of 80 posted by Dan Negus (Pembroke, Mass.).  Austin Teal (Loudonville, N.Y.) tied with Alex Viola (Brunswick, Maine) for second on the team with an 85 while Drew Benshoff (Concord, Mass.) and Jonny Fritz (Grafton, Mass.) rounded out the scoring with rounds of 87 and 91 respectively on the first day.

The Gulls would improve dramatically on the second day of the competition, posting a round of 316 which tied for the 9th best team round on the day.  Endicott was led on the second day by Teal's round of 76 as Negus also broke 80 with a round of 79.  Benshoff posted a second round score of 80 while Viola and Fritz finished with scores of 81 and 85.

Overall on the tournament, Negus finished tied for 32nd with a two round total of 159.  Teal was right on his heels, posting a 161 to tie him for 47th overall.  Viola and Benshoff finished tied for 75th and 80th respectively with scores of 166 and 167 while Fritz finished with a score of 176 and tied for 115th.

Endicott has a huge week ahead as on Thursday they travel to UNE and the Cape Arundel Golf Club to compete in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship qualifier.  In this format, the top four teams qualify for the CCC Championship which is held in the spring at the home course of the highest qualifying team.  Play gets underway at 9:15 a.m.