Golf Looks to Improve In Second Touney

The men’s golf team will participate in the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament Friday and Saturday. The Lions will look to repeat the impressive performance they had at the Cornell Invitational two weeks ago

Columbia finished third at Cornell, but head coach Rich Mueller believes that this outcome is deceiving.

“We would have won that tournament, there is no doubt in my mind,” Mueller said, “I think every guy that was there knew that Siena and Delaware didn’t want to finish because they were all nervous and they knew we were coming for them.”

Columbia’s talent, though not displayed on paper yet, is due in part to quality performances by first-years Brendan Doyle and Sam Mysock. Both players have started in the first two tournaments of the season and thus far they have posted strongs numbers. Mysock shot a magnificent second round in Michigan with a 65, while Brendan Doyle shot an average of 74.3 overall.

“They have already proven their tournament worthiness.” Mueller said, “Considering they can walk right in as freshmen and post those kinds of numbers, I think they are going to be an awesome addition to what we already have.”

The numbers the Lions posted at the ECAC tournament indicate that the team has the ability to perform well this season, and Mueller agrees.
“We have adopted the philosophy that we don’t care what anyone else does and we play the golf course, that’s the enemy,” he said. “If we can stick to just playing the golf course and not playing the teams next to us, we are going to do fine. If we play the golf course well and we don’t finish first, that’s OK.”

The Lions tee off in Riverhead, N.Y. at 8 a.m. on both Friday and Saturday. After this weekend’s tournament, the Light Blue will partake in the Columbia Invitational from Friday, Oct. 24, to Sunday, Oct. 26th.