Men’s and Women’s Golf finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships in Lake Buena Vista, Florida this past weekend.
The men’s team shot a final round 308 as a team, led by senior Drake Ferriter, who shot his third consecutive 76 on the final day to lead the Hawks’ roster while placing 13th overall in the tournament.
The finish for Ferriter was the second time this season he has led the Blue and White’s card and the eighth time he has done so in his collegiate career.
Ferriter was able to birdie back-to-back holes on seven and eight before heading to the back nine one stroke under par in the final round.
His last collegiate finish makes it 69 of 80 career rounds that the senior was able to put up a score in the seventies.
Finishing closely behind him on the Monmouth side was sophomore Ron Robinson with a final round score of 78 and freshman Brendan Smith as they both finished in 23rd place with the same three-day scores, four strokes back of Ferriter.
Robinson’s total score for the weekend of 232 was a career-low in three consecutive rounds of play.
Junior Andy Stock also shot a 77 in two of his three rounds in Florida, which was strong enough to place him in a tie for 29th in the tournament.
MU’s final round score of 308 fell just two strokes behind Fairfield for sixth place as Iona ended up winning the conference title with a score of 219.
“We didn’t have our best three days at the conference championship,” said Men’s Head Coach Dennis Shea. “We certainly will take this experience and the positives to improve in the coming years.”
On the women’s side, sophomore Cassidy Gavaghan finished atop the Hawks’ scorecard with a final round 82 to place 16th in the tournament in her first ever conference championship appearance.
This was the third event of the season in which the sophomore led her team’s scorecard.
Gavaghan’s highlight of the tournament was her birdie on the third hole in her final round, a par-three tee shot that landed within a couple feet of the hole for a tap in.
Senior Haley Goodling also had a quality showing in her final collegiate match, placing 27th and wrapping up a career in which she led Monmouth 14 total times in scoring.
After leading the Blue and White on day one, freshman Amanda Hart closed out tournament play with a 34th place finish, closely followed by freshman teammate Mackenzie Matarese who posted a career-low 87 leading her to 35th place.
Matarese’s impressive performance included a birdie of her own on the 13th hole, helping her reach a career-best 54-hole score.
The final three-day score was a 1,032 for the Hawks, who totaled 351 strokes in the final round as the University of Albany took home the MAAC Tournament title.
“I’m a little disappointed in a few of our results the last two days but overall, for my first season I thought we had a great performance,” said Women’s Head Coach Michelle Melia. “I think we can do a lot better and I’m really looking forward to working in the offseason to get the kids ready for next season.”
After closing out the 2018-2019 season, Women’s Golf will look towards next year where they will return three letter winners. The men’s team will return six for the upcoming campaign in the fall as they will look to improve.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics
