By Joe Yamulla || Assistant Sports Editor

The college golf season has kicked off and the F&M men’s team has not hesitated to get right into the swing of things. So far, the team has played in the McDaniel Invitational last weekend and finished the invite with an impressive outcome. The Diplomats came in second place out of eighteen teams. The team played impressively, and specifically Chris Gabriele ’18 who was named Centennial Conference Golfer of the Week during the fall season in October, Brad Lankler ’17 and senior Robert Svigals ’15.

Coming in second in a major collegiate golf tournament is a tall task, and the weather conditions made the challenge even more daunting. On the Saturday of the tournament, the weather was in the low 30s, with wind and overcast. Sunday had high temperatures only in the 40s with just as poor course conditions. However, despite these conditions at the Bridges Golf Club in Abbottstown, Pennsylvania, the men’s team was able to shoot a combined score of 321 on Saturday, and 303 on
Sunday.

Robert Svigals shot a score of 80 (+8) in Saturday, and 76 (+4) on Sunday. Brad Lankler completed the weekend with the second best score on the team for F&M, as he finished with a score of 87 (+15) on Saturday, and then an impressive 70 (-2) on Sunday. Stephen Colodny shot 83 (+11) and 76 (+4), and Chris Gabriele finished at 79 (+7) and 81 (+9). Having four players within the top twenty for the entire tournament was a main the contributing factor that led to the team’s second place finish for the weekend.

Golf is a sport that is defined by a plethora of external factors. Weather, is arguably the most important aspect that affects how high or low scores will be for the day. The team’s perseverance through the cold and substandard conditions at the McDaniel Invitational is certainly gives reason to believe that this team can compete to win in every tournament that they play in this season, especially when the weather is more favorable. The F&M golfers will tee it up Sunday April 5, and Monday April 6 in the Hershey Cup. The tournaments they play in after that will be the Moravian Invitational, the Messiah Falcon Classic, followed by the F&M Spring Invitational at Bent Creek Country Club. After these tournaments, the team will compete in the Centennial Conference Championships at the Dupont Country Club in Wilmington, Delaware.

F&M Golf has a history of success and competitiveness under head coach Andy Tompos. This season, despite its brevity, does not show any signs of being different, as Coach Tompos has a strong team filled with experienced upperclassmen and talented underclassmen. Golf fans around campus should be sure to check in with the team after these upcoming tournaments and follow their progress throughout the duration of the season.

First-year Joe Yamulla is the Assistant Sports Editor. His email is jyamulla@fandm.edu.