The Men’s Golf Team. Photograph by Scott Rowan via wcupagoldenrams.com.
After the Glade Springs Invitational, which was set to be held Mar. 19–20 at the Glade Springs Resort — Cobb Course in Daniels, W.Va. was canceled, West Chester University’s own Dr. Edwin B. Cottrell Invitational contested at Penn Oaks Golf Club (par 71, 6,700 yards) on April 3–4 became the Ram’s spring season opener. Eight teams endured 36 holes of individual stroke play and counted scores for both individual and team competitions.
Round One
West Chester’s performance during round one of the tournament earned the team fourth place on the leaderboard with an overall team score of 301. Topping the leaderboard for the purple and gold was Jacob Sokalsky and Ryan D’Ariano who shared a 3-over-par score of 74 and sixth place in the tournament. Before day’s end, the West Chester Men combined for seven birdies. Round one’s individual leader was Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP)’s Alex Swinnerton who shot 1-under-par 70. Sharing first place after round one was Gannon University and IUP who both carded team scores of 297.
Round One Scores:
| Brock Fassnacht | 76 |
| Jacob Sokalsky | 74 |
| Ryan D’Ariano | 74 |
| Fletcher Masterson | 77 |
| Hamilton McNaughton | 82 |
| Team Score | 301 |
Round Two
A team score of 315 by the Rams coupled with their round one score of 301 totaled an overall team score of 616. Their efforts earned them a share of third place alongside Millersville University who shot team scores of 298 and 318 during rounds one and two of the tournament respectively.
“Our team is not super happy about how we did,” senior-captain Brock Fassnacht said. “I know it’s the first tournament, but most of us did not play up to our standard. Shooting 317 the second round is not going to be good enough in any tournament we play let alone at our home course.”
Jacob Sokalsky shot 4-over-par 75 to take the spot as the team’s low man for the tournament and to finish T4 on the leaderboard.
“As happy as I should be with my performance, I left many shots out there.” co-captain Jacob Sokalsky said. “Shooting 75 with seven three-putts and 37 total putts was very disappointing, as I was trying to reach my goal for solo second [place]. It’s a solid finish for the first tournament of the year, but there’s room to improve and I know what to fix.”
Combined, there were eight birdies from the team during the round.
Winning the tournament’s team competition was IUP with a score of 592. IUP’s Alex Swinnerton took the individual trophy after shooting 3-under-par 68 during round two for an overall score of 138.
Round Two Scores:
| Jacob Sokalsky | 75 | 149 |
| Fletcher Masterson | 78 | 155 |
| Ryan D’Ariano | 82 | 156 |
| Brock Fassnacht | 82 | 158 |
| Hamilton McNaughton | 80 | 162 |
| Team Score | 315 | 616 |
The team’s next action is the Le Moyne Invitational which will be contested April 9–10 at Timber Banks Golf Club in Baldwinsville, N.Y.
Notes:
During round two of the tournament senior-captain Brock Fassnacht eagled the 480 yard, par 5 12th hole. His first eagle of the spring season leaves him only three back from tying the record for most career eagles by a player, which was set at 13 by Andrew Patterson (2014–17).
John T. Iswalt Men’s Golf Correspondent, Senior – Media and Culture major Digital Marketing minor