KINGSTON, N.Y. — The Columbia men's golf team won its third tournament of the 2023-24 season on Saturday, carding a single-day 36-hole score of 20-under par to capture the Roar-EE Invitational. The tournament was held on a wet, cold and windy Saturday at Wiltwyck Golf Club.
Leading the way for the Lions was senior
DJ Francey, who earned co-medalist with a tournament total of 7-under par 137. Francey posted four birdies and three bogeys for an opening-round 71 and followed a stellar 6-under 66. His second round included seven birdies, including a birdie-birdie-birdie finish to catch Yale's Ben Carpenter for co-medalist. This marks Francey's second individual win of the season.
"Just incredibly proud of the guys and how they pulled together as a team today," Columbia Director of Golf
Rich Mueller said. "These were tough conditions today. DJ was phenomenal out there and I also can't say enough about senior
Alvin Kwak. Alvin's morning round of 66 was storybook and then to have your team bookend your story with a win just makes it so incredibly special."
Playing No. 1 in the lineup, senior
Alvin Kwak carded a career-low round of 66 in his final regular-season tournament. It was pristine, posting six birdies and no bogeys to hold the 18-hole lead. He ultimately tied for 13th in the 75-man field at 1-under.
Junior
Wyatt McGovern continued a fantastic run of play. McGovern (-5) earned solo third with a first-round 70 and second-round 69. He took advantage of the par-4 sixth and par-5 12th with birdies in both rounds. Those accounted for four of his 10 birdies on the day, carding five in each round.
George Rubelsky earned a top 20 at even-par 144, posting back-to-back rounds of 72.
Darren Pang (+3) rounded out the team competitors with a tie for 22nd, placing all five Lions in the team lineup in the top 25.
Columbia's 20-under 36-hole total (279-277—556) marked the second time this season they've gone that low over the opening 36 of a tournament – they posted back-to-back rounds of 14-under on their way to The Doc Gimmler Invitational title in September. This time around, they held off second-place Yale (-14) and were 16 shots clear of the rest of the 13-team field.
The Lions now get set for the 2024 Ivy League Championship, which takes place Friday-Sunday, April 19-21, at Watchung Valley Golf Club in Watchung, New Jersey.
FOLLOW THE LIONS:
For the latest on Columbia men's golf, follow @CULionsMGolf on
Facebook,
Twitter and
Instagram, and on the web at
GoColumbiaLions.com.
