College Golf
Rider at MAAC Championships - Day One
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.--The Rider University golf team is participating at the three-day Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championships in Florida Friday through Sunday.
After day one of the 54-hole tournament, Rider is in seventh place out of nine teams after shooting a 314. The Broncs had three birdies, 57 pars, 23 bogeys, five double bogeys and two triple bogeys on Friday.
"We got off to a solid start," said head coach Bob Whartenby. "We were close to fifth place with two holes to go but limped in to fall off the pace."
The 47 player tournament is being held at par 72, 7,008 yard Magnolia Golf Course in Disney World.
For Rider, sophomore James Buttermark (Staten Island, N.Y/Monsignor Farrell) shot a four over par 76 and is tied for 17th place. Buttermark who had his only birdie on the par four, 446 yard fifth hole, is three shots out of eighth place and six shots out of the lead.
Buttermark tied for seventh as a Rider rookie at the 2011 MAAC championships after rounds of 79-76-75 (230), earning All-MAAC honors for his top 10 finish.
Senior Chris Wolak (Issaquah, Wash./Hopkinton) shot a 78 (six over par) on the opening 18 holes and is tied for 26th place.
Wolak was 13th at MAACs as a sophomore in 2010 and was 37th last season at MAACs as a junior.
"Wolak and Buttermark played great but couldn't get any putts to drop," Whartenby said. "If they made some putts they would've been really close to the lead."
Also for the Broncs, freshman Luke Liddell (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) and freshman Cole Clark (Califon/Voorhees) each shot an 80 and are tied for 34th. Clark had his only birdie on the par four, 320 yard 13th hole.
Junior Chris Foster (Pittsgrove/Schalick) shot an opening round 82 and is in 41st place. Foster scored his only birdie on the par five, 580 yard 14th hole.
Jay Mulieri (Loyola Maryland) leads the field after a two under par opening round of 70. Mulieri leads by one shot over teammate Ryan McCarthy, Joe Vogl (Canisius) and TJ Sumigray (Saint Peter's).
Loyola Maryland leads the field with a (286), followed by Saint Peter's (291), Canisius (298) and Fairfield (302). Iona is in fifth place (303), followed by Manhattan (311), Rider (314), Siena (315) and Niagara (315).
Last season, Rider was eighth of nine teams with a three-round total of 977 (328-326-323).
In 2010, Rider was third (302-312-300) with a score of 914 and in 2009, the Broncs were sixth (941) after rounds of 304, 319 and 318.
In 2008, Rider was the runner-up with scores of 303-295-295, for a total of 893 and the Broncs were fifth in 2007 (921) with rounds of 306, 301 and 326.
Highlights of the opening round, produced by ESPN, are expected to be available on MAAC.TV Friday evening.
The second round (18 holes) is Saturday with the final 18 holes Sunday.
"Hopefully tomorrow we can get off to the same start but have a stronger finish," Whartenby added.
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