TOWNSEND, Mass. – For the second consecutive tournament to start the 2022-23 season, a Felician University freshman broke the men's golf program records for best round and best 36-hole tournament score. Pablo Hidalgo (Marbella Spain, IES Guadalpin) now owns both of those marks after shooting 67-71—138 (-2) at the Franklin Pierce University Fall Invitational on Sunday and Monday at Northern Spy Golf Club.
Hidalgo's classmate, Cesar Castellano (Madrid, Spain/San Patricio El Soto), held the records for just two weeks. Castellano signed for 68-73—141 at the Vulcan Invitational, hosted by California University of Pennsylvania, on Sept. 4-5.
Hidalgo tied for second place out of 84 entrants at Franklin Pierce. During Sunday's round, he made four bogeys, five birdies, an eagle, and 10 pars on the 6,184-yard, par-70 layout. Castellano was the only other Golden Falcon to finish among the top half of the field. He tied for 14th with 73-73—146.
Graduate student Gonzalo Maldonado Felices (Almeria, Spain/Stella Maris) tied for 47th with rounds of 77-80—157. Rounding out the Felician lineup were sophomore Kristian O'Grady (Thiells, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) (74th, 82-89—171) and junior James Surovcik (Philadelphia, Pa./New Mexico Military Academy) (75th, 88-86-174). Surovcik was the only Golden Falcon to improve from Day 1 to Day 2
The Golden Falcons posted a team score of 299 on Sunday and sat in a four-way tie for fifth place out of 16 schools. However, while the average player score dropped nearly 2 ½ strokes on Monday, Felician saw its team total swell to 310, forcing it to settle for 10th place. With a tournament total of 609, the Golden Falcons were seven shots behind ninth-place Adelphi University and six ahead of Saint Anselm College in 11th.
The host Ravens won the event by carding 298-279—577 (+17), edging runner-up Assumption University by three strokes. Dominican (N.Y.) University's Alejandro Gomez was the medalist (67-69—136) and FPU's Michael Sosik (73-65) shared second place with Hidalgo.
Felician returns to New England on Sept. 26-27 for the Penmen Fall Invitational, hosted by Southern New Hampshire University in Concord, N.H.
