Men’s Golf Finishes Fifth at Big 5 Classic

Huge Team Effort in Second Round Keys Move from 13th to Fifth in Standings

10/15/06 8:02PM

PHILADELPHIA - The William and Mary men’s golf team used a massive second round to jump eight spots in the team standings and finish tied for fifth with Penn State at the Big 5 Classic. W&M’s second round of 286 was the tournament’s low team round by ten strokes. Columbia won the 15-team event by thirteen strokes over Georgetown and the host Quakers from Penn, and also boasted the both players who tied for individual medalist honors, Chris Condello and Chris Arkin.

The huge round was keyed by four of the Tribe’s five players all posting improvements of nine or ten strokes off a difficult first round. Brent Paladino (Kensington, CT) cut nine strokes between rounds to close with a 69 and improve to third place, one shot behind the co-leaders. Ryan Price (Chantilly, VA), who has played like a man possessed all season long, was second for the team when he cut ten strokes (81-71) to improve to a tie for 17th. Junior Jimmy Femino (Manassas, VA) was two strokes behind him after also cutting ten strokes (82-72), finishing in a tie for 27th. Senior captain Matt Brantingham (Richmond, VA) closed with 74 to make his own nine-stroke improvement and move to a tie for 42nd. Rounding out the team was sophomore Doug Hurson (Bethesda, MD), who improved four strokes and moved up close to thirty places in the standings to a tie for 44th.

William and Mary will be back on the links next weekend, when it travels to Beallsville, Maryland, for the Georgetown Hoya Invitational on October 21-22.

Complete Results

Big 5 Classic
Par-71, 6,834 yards

Top Five Teams
School Score To-Par
1. Columbia 591 +23
T2. Georgetown 604 +36
T2. Pennsylvania 604 +36
4. Richmond 607 +39
T5. WILLIAM AND MARY 609 +41
T5. Penn State 609 +41

Top Five Individuals
Player (School) Score To-Par
T1. Chris Arkin (COLM) 146 +4
T1. Chris Condello (COLM) 146 +4
3. Brent Paladino (W&M) 147 +5
T5. John Pelet (UR) 148 +6
T5. Michael Blodgett (PENN) 148 +6

Other W&M Individuals
Player Score To-Par
T17. Ryan Price 152 +10
T27. Jimmy Femino 154 +12
T42. Matt Brantingham 159 +17
T44. Doug Hurson 160 +18