SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Its annual trip to the Mike Bello Invitational was not kind to the Felician University men's golf team on Thursday and Friday. The 15-team tournament, hosted by Le Moyne College at Bellevue Country Club, saw Felician post a 36-hole total of 748, or 180 strokes over par.
The par-71 course was laid out over 6,498 yards. On a cold, windy Day 1, no Golden Falcon could shoot lower than the 83 of sophomore Jake Storako (Laurel Springs, N.J./Highland Regional). The resultant 385 team round was Felician's worst of the 2017-18 season.
Storako improved to 76 on a much warmer, calmer Friday. His +17 two-day score of 159, however, left him in a tie for 34th place amid the 83-player field.
While all four Golden Falcons improved at least three strokes from Thursday to Friday, Storako was the only Felician entrant to finish in the top half of the individual standings. Junior Justin Keiser (Bellport, N.Y./Bellport) tied for 66th place with 86-82-168.
Senior Chris Bekefi (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) settled for 79th after carding 92-89-181. Meanwhile, sophomore Pat Faughnan (Union, N.J./Roselle Catholic) made his collegiate debut when he was penciled into the No. 4 spot in the Golden Falcon line-up. Faughnan shot 124-116-240 and was 82nd.
As a team, Felician improved 22 strokes day-over-day, but could not climb out of 15th place. The Golden Falcons trailed 14th-place Saint Michael's College by 35 shots after Thursday's round and finished 56 behind the Purple Knights. No other team exceeded 100 over par.
Felician was one of five Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference members to attend.
Roberts Wesleyan College won the tournament with 296-302-298 (+30), a healthy 12 strokes better than runner-up Dominican (N.Y.) College. Matt Paradis of third-place Southern New Hampshire University was the medalist. His 70-73 143 (+1) was four ahead of the field.
Felician is slated to compete with Dominican at a tri-match hosted by the Jefferson Rams on Monday at the ACE Club in Lafayette Hill, Pa.
