April 29, 2010
BRONX, N.Y. - The Fordham men's golf team heads south to sunny Florida to wrap up the season at the 32nd Annual Atlantic 10 Championships, held at the Mission Inn Resort at Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla. The Championships will be held from April 30-May 2. Tee times begin at 8 a.m. on all three days.
The field consists of 11 teams, all vying for the 2010 Atlantic 10 Men's Golf Title. Led by Charlotte, Xavier and St. Bonaventure; Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, George Washington, La Salle, Rhode Island, Richmond, Saint Joseph's and Temple will also be competing.
Fordham golf fans can follow the action live via Golf Stat.com.
SCOUTING THE RAMS
This spring, Fordham has been quite successful, especially in the past two tournaments. Last weekend, although rain put off the second day of competition, Fordham finished third out of 11 teams at Rhode Island's Northeast Invitational (April 24). Fordham went head-to-head against Rhode Island, who won their home tournament. For Fordham, rookie Jason Del Rosso (Orlando, Fla./Bishop Moore) finished tied for fourth with a 75. Del Rosso earned Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors for his performance in the URI Invite and at the mid-week Mount St. Mary's Invitational in Pennsylvania. Del Rosso finished second for Fordham behind sophomore Devon O'Rourke (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) who finished tied for eighth overall with a 232 (80-78-74). The Rams also finished fourth out of eight teams in the mid-week Mount St. Mary's Spring Invitational (April 19-20).
Del Rosso and O'Rourke have finished in the top 15 six times this spring. Del Rosso has been Fordham's top finisher in three of the Rams' six spring tournaments. His lowest round this spring was a 73, while his lowest round overall is a 67, which he scored at the Dartmouth Invitational on Sept. 27, good for first place. Del Rosso averages 75.4 per round.
O'Rourke's best round of the spring was a 74, which he shot twice, most recently in the third round of the Mount Saint Mary Spring Invitational (April 19-20). He also carded a 74 on the second round of the Rehoboth Beach Invitational (April 5). His best score was a 70, which he recorded at the Yale Invitational (Oct. 4). O'Rourke averages a 76.5.
Rookie Brody Nieporte (Atlanta, Ga./St. Pius) has also been a consistent low-scorer for Fordham. Nieporte finished tied for 12th with O'Rourke at URI's Northeast Invitational and tied for 10th at the Mount St. Mary's Spring Invitational with Del Rosso. Neiporte was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for the week of March 29, after he was the Rams' top finisher at the Monmouth Hawk Spring Invite (March 27-28). He finished in a tie for 20th overall out of 60 competitors, shooting a two-round total of 156 (78-76). The 76 is Nieporte's best round this spring. He's carded a 76 on three occasions, including the second and third round at the Mount St. Mary's Invite. Nieporte averages 78.5 strokes per round.
Sophomore Brendan Green (Wilmette, Ill./Loyola Academy) and senior David Newman (North Dighton, Mass./Dighton-Rehoboth Regional) will also be part of the field. Both the sophomore and the senior have competed in all six of the spring tournaments. Green's best score this spring was a 77 and Newman's a 76.
THE COURSE
The Mission Inn Resort is ranked among the "top 10 of Florida's favorite golf courses" by Florida Golf News, received the "Four-Star Award" by Golf Digest; and was recognized as one of the nation's "top 100 golf courses" by Links Magazine. Mission Inn Resort was the home of the 1998 and 2000 NCAA Men's Golf Championship.
Mission Inn has 36 holes of Championship golf. There are two courses, El Campeon, "The Champion" and Las Colinas, "The Hills." Both courses hold a 4-star rating and have been recognized as "Best Places to Play", North America, by Golf Digest. The Champion was designed by George O'Neil of Chicago in 1917 and was further enhanced in 1926 by Charles E. Clarke of Troon, Scotland. The Hills course was designed by former PGA Tour Player, Gary Koch. It opened in 1992.
This year, the course is also home to the 2010 Division III Women's Golf Championships and the 39th Annual Florida Junior Boys & Girls Invitational Championships.
THE 2009 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Fordham finished 12th at the 2009 Atlantic 10 Championships, also held at Mission Inn Resort on a par-71, 6,887-yard course. Charlotte finished first with a +20/872 and became the first A-10 program to win four straight titles since Penn State won five consecutive crowns from 1986-91. XU shot 10-over for the day and 31-over par (883) for the Championship for its third runner-up finish in the past four years.
Leading the Rams was Devon O'Rourke, who shot a final day 77 to bring his three-round total to 240, tying him for 40th overall. Nik Andresen recorded an 85 on Sunday to bring his total to 248, tying him for 49th overall, while Charles Smith scored an 84 in the third round to total 254 for the tournament, good for 55th place. Niko Mizono carded a three-day total of 271 to finish 58th while Zach Murray had a 275 total to place 59th.
THE FIELD
Charlotte is the favorite coming into the tournament, having won the last four titles since 2006. Leading the way for Charlotte is 2009 individual champion and three-time All-American Corey Nagy, who was recently named to the 2010 U.S. Palmer Cup Team. Nagy placed third overall at the 2007 A-10 Championship and runner-up in 2008. He seeks to become just the fifth player in league history to win consecutive A-10 individual titles and the first since Xavier's Steve Dixon accomplished the feat in 1998 and 1999. Xavier and St. Bonaventure are also in the running for the team title. Xavier placed second at last year's Championships, 10 strokes behind the 49ers. The Musketeers have finished runner-up in three of the past four years after seizing the 2005 title. Seeking its first-ever crown, St. Bonaventure is led by senior Nathan Peck a two-time A-10 Performer of the Week selection this season. Peck finished seventh at the 2009 Championships.
FORDHAM WINS FALL ECAC DIVISION I CROWN
In the fall, the Rams won the ECAC Team Title on Oct. 10 in Egg Harbor, N.J. The Rams overcame a two-stroke deficit from day one to better Farleigh Dickinson by four strokes to win the title by a two-stroke margin. Fordham shot a two-day score of 623 (311-312) to win the tournament, followed by Fairleigh Dickinson in second at 625 (309-316), while Monmouth (313-317) and Colgate (320-310) tied for third at 630. Fordham saw four individuals place in the top 12, led by O'Rourke, who tied for fifth overall with a two-round total of 154 (77-77). Senior David Newman (78-78) and Nieporte (78-78) both shot 156 to tie for ninth in the tournament with Del Rosso just one shot behind them with a 157 (78-79), tying for 12th.
HEAD COACH Paul Dillon HONORED AT MET PGA LUNCHEON
Fordham men's golf coach Paul Dillon was honored at the 48th annual New York area MET PGA Luncheon on April 13. At the luncheon, Dillon was awarded the 2009 Sam Snead Award, recognizing leaders in the golf community who have touched the game and profession of golf that distinguishes them and their contributions. Dillon, the Rams' head coach for the past 15 years, is a former President of the MGA, Westchester Golf Association and Westchester Golf Caddie Scholarship Foundation.
At Fordham, he received the Atlantic 10 Coach Of The Year honor in 2004, while he was finishing up his term as MGA President. A couple days after winning this league honor, he, along with Fordham Women's Soccer coach Ness Selmani, were the co-recipients of the Iron Major Award, as Fordham Coach of the Year.
