Men’s golf finishes fall season strong in tournament play

By JOE LANGLEY

Senior Writer

Just like that, another fall season is in the books for the UMW men’s golf team. The team placed third, third and fourth in their tournaments this fall. Each tournament hosted at least twelve different college teams, so UMW placed well. The score for the Eagles at each tournament was 610, 602 and 585, but the attitude on the team is that the best has yet to come.

Senior Jason Guintu liked how this season went for him, and looks forward to improving even more. “My goal coming into the season was to lower my scoring average and make fewer mistakes around the golf course,” said Guintu.

His average score was 74.17 for this season. About the team’s tournament performances, Guintu said, “These finishes aren’t bad by any means. However we expect to finish higher in the rankings, due to the great amount of talent on our squad.”

About the season, senior captain Phillip Manceri said, “solid so far, but we know we can do much better.” Manceri had a season average score of 73.50. Manceri was also quick to complement his fellow teammate, Guintu, who came in third at their most recent tournament in Blacksburg, VA.

Looking ahead to next season, Guintu has some big goals. “While my personal goal is to lower my average score, our overall goal is to reach the national championship,” Guintu said with full confidence. “We are obviously more than capable of making the cut, but we believe we’re much better than just qualifying.”

Manceri said, “We know the fall is just a warmup for the spring. My goal is to win another CAC championship.”

With a CAC championship under their belt, the team is no stranger to success. The class of 2020 were the first members of the golf team, and from the start immediately showed their talent. However, each year, they have had a new head coach, which would take a toll on any team.

New head coach and UMW professor Dan Wolfe has brought a new surge of excitement for this team. Guintu said, “I really like what Coach Wolfe brings to this team. He has done a really good job around the course in tournaments with keeping us motivated, constantly and consistently giving us valuable information. So far, we’ve all developed a great relationship with him, and trust what he’s doing for our team.”

“Coach Wolfe is great he really brings us together,” junior Sebastian Bonte said. “He truly motivates us to be great at golf.”

Manceri is also very supportive of his new head coach. “He has shown us that he truly cares and wants us to become better. He knows what we are capable of and is trying to lead us in the right direction.”

Wolfe confidently spoke about his team stating, “What I learned from this team is that we have the talent to be competitive in every tournament and to win the CAC conference.”

“I think it is really important for our seniors to culminate their four years here by getting back on top,” said Wolfe. “They won the CAC their sophomore year and were leading after the first day last year. I know it really bothers them that they didn’t finish on top.”

The men’s golf team remains confident in the future. After a solid fall season, this team aims to make a CAC championship run in the spring of 2020.