College Golf
Rider 10^th of 12 at St. Bonnie-Day One

OLEAN, NY- Senior Brian Accorsini (Hopkinton, Mass/Hopkinton) shot a 76 to place 23^rd of 61 golfers on the first day of the two-day, 22^nd Annual Leo Keenan Invitational, hosted by Saint Bonaventure. "Brian played pretty steady all day," said Rider head coach Bob Whartenby. "He made a couple birdies on a couple of really tough holes."

The Broncs are currently 10^th of 12 teams. "We came back a little bit on the back nine," Whartenby said.

Accorsini has had success on this course before, finishing fifth in the 2008 Leo Keenan as a freshman and was 19^th last year (73/78). "He has a really good long game," Whartenby said of team captain and Communication major Accorsini, who was an All-MAAC golfer as a freshman. "When his putter gets on a roll, that's when he shoots really low."

Senior Brent Wolgast (Bay City, Mich./Pendleton) shot an 80 and is tied with junior Chris Wolak (Issaquah, Wash./Hopkinton) for 43^rd.

Last year Wolgast finished 14^th overall (74/75) at the Leo Keenan and Wolak finished 47^th last year (80/78).

"We got off to a bad start today," Whartenby said. "We had a lot of high numbers in the beginning."

Freshman James Buttermark (Staten Island, N.Y/Monsignor Farrell) had an 81 and is 49^th and senior Jordan Wycoff (Fort Washington, Pa./Saint Stephen's Episcopal) shot an 83 to place 58^th.

Saint Francis-Pa leads the field with a 290, followed by host St. Bonnie at 295 and LIU at 297.

Play continues Monday. "We have to try to put it together tomorrow," Whartenby said. "It's a tricky golf course," said of the 6.308 yard, par 70 Bartlett Country Club course. "They can put some pins that really get you going. You have to stay patient and that is what we did on the back nine today."

-ru-