College Golf
Rider at Rutgers Invitational

PISCATAWAY-The Rider University golf team is tied for 13th place out of 16 teams after the first 18 holes at the Rutgers Invitational.

"Today was a tough day," said head coach Bob Whartenby.  "We teed off when it was 46 degrees and we aren't used to that yet.  We had a rough start and a rough finish but everything in between was pretty good."

For Rider, which shot a 319 on Friday, junior Chris Foster (Pittsgrove/Schalick) shot an opening round 76 and is tied for 23rd out of 83 golfers.

"Foster had a great first round," Whartenby said.  "He had a slow start but finished strong."

Also for the Broncs, sophomore James Buttermark (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) had an opening round 78 and is tied for 41st, freshman Cole Clark (Califon/Voorhees) fired an 82 and is tied for 61st, senior Chris Wolak (Issaquah, Wash./Hopkinton) had a round of 83 and is tied for 65th and freshman Luke Liddell (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) is 83rd after an opening round of 92.

"James played very well all day," Whartenby added.  "With a little improvement of his putting, he can really post something low Saturday."

The two-day, 54-hole event is being played at the par 71, 6,337-yard Rutgers University golf course with the final holes of the second round and the 18-hole third round being completed on Saturday.

Rider, which completed its second round Friday afternoon, shot a 320 and the individual places will be reported when all teams have completed the second round Saturday morning.

Rider was 13th of 17 teams at the Rutgers Invitational in 2010.

Seton Hall and USC Upstate lead the field after the opening round with a 293, followed by Wilmington (295), Fairleigh Dickinson (298) and Saint Peter's College (300).

-RU-