BERLIN, Md. – Felician University junior Justin Rasmus (Colonia, N.J./Colonia) finished fifth out of 44 entrants and set a school individual record for a 36-hole event at the St. Thomas Aquinas College Spring Invitational men's golf event on Sunday at the Man O'War Course at GlenRiddle Golf Club.
The tournament format called for two rounds of 18-hole stroke play on Sunday. Rasmus fired a 71 (-1) in the morning round on the 7,163-yard course, and was leading the field. He became only the third player in the 11-year history of the Golden Falcons program to shoot a round below par, joining Joe Leardo (twice) and Joe Peters.
Rasmus backed up his effort with a 75 in the afternoon for a 36-hole total of 146 (+2), bettering Peters' record from 2010 by one shot.
Rasmus was the only Golden Falcon to shoot below 80 in the first round, and Felician carded a team total of 314. But in the afternoon, all four Felician scorers did so. The resulting team 18-hole score of 308 and 36-hole total of 622 were both the second-best results in program history.
The Golden Falcons finished third out of eight schools in the team standings, finishing behind only the top two teams in the NCAA Division II East Region. Second-ranked Wilmington (Del.) University won the event with 296-288-584 (+8), and the host and top-ranked Spartans were second with 300-299-599. Felician was 11 strokes better than fourth-place Post University.
Individually, senior Andrew Geesey (Red Lion, Pa./Dallastown Area) tied for 19th after carding 81-77-158. Sophomore Andrew Capone (Denville, N.J./Parsippany Hills) tied for 24th with 80-79-159, and classmate Chris Bekefi (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) shot 88-77-165 and tied for 34th place. The 77 in Round 2 was Bekefi's collegiate best. Freshman Justin Keiser (Bellport, N.Y./Bellport) rounded out the line-up with 82-85-167 (T-37th).
The Golden Falcons conclude the 2015-16 campaign by participating in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference championship on Tuesday and Wednesday in Middletown, Del.
