For Immediate Release: May 22, 2004
Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-6800

Bearcats swell to 315 to place 23rd at NCAA East Regional

Final Results

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--The Binghamton University golf team reversed its direction after Friday's upward move, sliding back a notch to finish in a tie for 23rd place after a final-round 315 at the NCAA East Regional, contested at the par-70, 6,749-yard The Course at Yale. Binghamton finished at 312-297-315=924 to tie district rival Army for 23rd in the field of 27 teams. The Bearcats were seeded No. 24 entering the tournament. Clemson shot 277 to claim top honors. Binghamton's rival and the Northeast region's top team, Rhode Island, placed eighth, becoming the first New England team to advance to the NCAA Finals from the East Regional.

"Even though the scores were disappointing today, overall it was a very successful season," head coach Nick Lasky said. "Just to get here for a second year was a tremendous accomplishment for the team, and hopefully Kevin (Crawford) and Jeff (Wolniewicz) can draw upon this experience when we begin the 2004-05 season."

Senior Keith Hendrickson (Syosset, N.Y.) went out in style, firing a +1 71 in his final collegiate round. Hendrickson shot 76-75-71=222 to tie for 54th place among 141 individuals, jumping up 19 spots in the final round. With his strong finish, he concluded his career with the lowest single-season scoring average in program history (74.14), edging the 74.2 mark recorded by Adam Fuchs in 2001-02. Hendrickson collected a pair of birdies on Saturday. He was the lone BU golfer to break 80 in the final round was the only Bearcat in the top half of the field for the 54-hole tournament.

Freshman Jeff Wolniewicz (West Seneca, N.Y.) finished with a final-round 80, and was tied for 81st place at 74-73-80=227. Senior Joe Kunz (Webster, N.Y.) was in 124th place (82-75-80=237) and sophomore Kevin Crawford (Lockport, N.Y.) was two strokes back in 128th place (81-74-84=239). Senior Eric Vinal (Syracuse, N.Y.) carded rounds of 81-89-85=255.

The top 10 teams plus two additional individual at each regional now advance to the NCAA Finals on June 1-4 in Hot Springs, Va.