By Jeffrey Preval

Finally, the Hofstra Invitational has come for Pride men and women golf. Although the tournament was played on two soggy, gray days in Farmingdale, Pride golf was looking to add some sunshine to the weekend. By winning their own tournament at the 6,868-yard Bethpage Country Club or as some may call the “Red Course,” the Pride would not only hope to scatter clouds shown in the forecast but also in their season.

After seeing both teams struggle in capturing the Lehigh Tournament earlier last week, Pride head coach Bob Schwalb said, “[The Pride] are coming to a crossroads in the season and we have to show an improvement [at Bethpage]. We have to show that we belong with other teams and I hope [the Pride] believe that they are capable of shooting the scores they can shoot.”

The Pride women, who finished fifth with a combined score of 716 on Saturday, were led again by freshman Caitlin Munroe, who posted a two-round total score of 168 to tie for 11th place. Munroe shot an 82 in round one and then an 86 in round two for a total post score of 168. Bringing up the back for the Pride were senior Erica Schindel, who tied for 19th with a 180, sophomore Tamara Bargiel and junior Meghan Cullinane, who both tied for 23rd with a total 184 score. Meanwhile, freshman Maren Crowley finished 28th with 194.

Meanwhile, the winners of the Hofstra Invitational, the Siena Saints, who won the Albany Quad Match before the Lehigh Invitational, were led by junior Jillian Blanchard who finished with a combined total of 158 to finish in second place.  Wagner College’s Whitney Drumright shot a hole-in-one on the fourth hole.  The Siena women captured the team title with a 653 score. Individually, Long Island University’s (Brooklyn) Senior Veronica Lopez (Mississauga, Ontario) captured her second individual title shooting a first round 75 in a sudden-death playoff. Earlier in the season on Sept. 29. Lopez won her first tournament at the Mount Holyoke Invitational.

On the men’s side, Schwalb, after the Lehigh Tournament said that if his men came in sixth or seventh place he would be happy with the team. But before anything, Schwalb wanted to change the order of his lineup to give his bench some action and possibly spark a sense of motivation with his starters. Part of the shakeup was freshmen Blake Gianniny, who Schwalb believed was capable of shooting a 76 at Bethpage and Alex Lowenthal, who shot a 162 at the Lehigh Invitational.

In the fall of 2003, former Pride golfer Blake Russell, who was a freshman for the Pride, but who is now playing for Ohio University, captured the Hofstra Tournament at Bethpage with a first round 70 and a second round 68 for a total 138. During the tournament, sophomores Jason Paul, who finished his two days with a 146 and Mike Ciccarelli with a 152 and Chris Spinks with a 160.

In 2004 the Pride men, who shaved seven strokes off their first round score to finish with a 309 on Saturday and 11th for the tournament, were led by junior Chris Spinks, who tied for third in the second round with a 74 to finish tied for 26th place with 154. But in the end, the men finished 625, which wasn’t nearly as low to win nor was it low enough to put a grin on Schwalb’s face.

In addition to Spinks, junior Jason Paul shot a second round 79 to finish tied for 33rd with a 155 for the Pride. Freshman Blake Gianniny, who Schwalb thought was capable of shooting a 76, came a hair short of his coaches’ prediction by shooting a second round 77 to place 45th with a two-round score of 158. Junior Michael Ciccarelli shot a 79 on Saturday to finish tied for 50th place with a 160 while freshman Alex Lowenthal scored an 82 in the final round to finish 53rd with a 161. Pride junior David Alonzo, who played as an individual in the five-to-score four tournament and shot a 75 in the second round and finished tied for 33rd with a 155, had the second best par-3 scoring average with a 2.88 mark.

The women will play in one more tournament on Nov. 7 and 8 as they travel to take on Old Dominion University (ODU) before taking their winter break. The men, who are in the same boat, take on the Temple University Owls next week on Oct. 25 and 26. ODU women, who haven’t finished better than ninth and have struggled for most of the season, like the Pride women, may be the place for the Pride as they prepare to break out the scarves for winter. Temple, who had their best showing at Bethpage at the McLaughlin Tournament by finishing fourth place shooting a three-round 886, look to win their own tournament.

Senior Michael Todd added a goal and an assist in the Pride´s final game of a 6-game road trip. (Photo courtesy Athletic Dept.)