On April 10 and 11, West Chester University’s men’s golf team participated in the NCAA Regional Preview Tournament in Victor, New York. The Golden Rams finished fourth overall in the competition, held at the Ravenwood Golf Club, which featured 23 of the best teams from the Atlantic and East Region.
After day one of the contest, West Chester held third place with a tally of 303. On the second day, the Rams shot a 309 to finish with a total score of 612, and fell one spot.
Individually, Brock Fassnacht led the team with a score of 150 through both rounds and was a big part of the Rams’ successful outing. Fassnacht, a junior from Lititz, Pennsylvania, captured seventh place overall. He has been a huge contributor for West Chester this season and will look to continue this success into postseason play. Chris Warner, a graduate student from Medford, New Jersey, had a nice performance as well, shooting a 153 and taking 21st place. Jordan Hyland (Davis & Elkins College) finished at the top of the leaderboard with a mark of 143. Hyland came into the second day five shots behind the leader, but never gave up and delivered an exceptional performance en route to his second career win. His outing helped push Davis & Elkins to a first place performance. The Senators finished the tournament with a 595, a sixteen-shot margin of victory.
This is West Chester’s first spring season since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic which canceled college sports and classes indefinitely. They were ranked seventh in the Atlantic Region heading into the semester behind PSAC rival Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), and NCAA Regional Preview winners Davis & Elkins College. The Golden Rams earned this ranking due in large part to an impressive fall in which they finished fifth in the PSAC Championships. So far they have not disappointed, with several top five finishes under their belt.
Prior to the Regional Preview, West Chester participated in the Dr. Edwin Cottrell Invitational in early April. Held at Penn Oaks Golf Course, home of the Golden Rams, the team placed second overall with a total mark of 603. In the process, West Chester beat their home record of 605, which they accomplished back in 2015. They were carried by a spectacular second day in which they scored a season best of 296 in the round.
The Golden Rams will be back in action this week as they travel to Indiana University of Pennsylvania to participate in the Cecil Spadafora Invitational. The two-day tournament, held on April 18 and 19, will take place at the Indiana Country Club, home of PSAC rivals IUP. This will be the final competition before the NCAA Regional Tournament in early May, which will once again take place at the Ravenwood Golf Club in Victor, New York.
For more information on the Golden Rams men’s golf team as they wind down their season and enter into postseason play, visit the West Chester University Athletics website.
Erick Klambara is a third-year Media & Culture major with a minor in Journalism. EK924666@wcupa.edu