This past weekend the Oswego State golf team played in the fall half of the Empire 8 tournament.
Through both days of the tournament, the Lakers finished in third place out of seven teams. In total, the Lakers ended up 43 shots over par with a total team score of 645. Head Coach Mike Howard knows his team is not in the spot they want to be in right now, but he felt as though they still played two solid rounds to keep them close in the race going into the spring portion of the tournament.
“I thought we played well on Saturday, putting ourselves in a good spot in the team standings,” Howard said. “On Sunday we didn’t duplicate that, the weather conditions were part of a factor in that. We are 17 shots out going into the spring, but I think we are capable of making up that ground.”
During the tournament, Howard’s team was led by the efforts of Ryan Fecco, Jake Owens and Max Mastrogiacomo. Fecco posted a total score of 154 after shooting a 79 on the second day to tie the overall lead. Both Owens and Mastrogiacomo finished in ninth place overall. According to Howard, both Owens and Mastrogiacomo have been very consistent throughout the fall. Mastrogiacomo had a strong round on Saturday but struggled a bit due to the weather on Sunday. Owens was exactly as Howard had described him, consistent, shooting an 80 then an 82 on both days of the tournament. Owens had led the competition at one point during the Saturday round.
“We are looking for them to continue their strong play,” Howard said. “We are going to have to play our best to make up those 17 strokes and they are capable of putting two or three good rounds up. So that’s going to be our focus to string some quality rounds together.”
After every round, there is always something to improve on. Being back 17 strokes, Howard acknowledged he and his players need to take every round they play as a learning experience. Howard wants his guys to test themselves in order to see what works and what does not, as well as what needs to improve. Each individual player has different aspects of their game that they need to work on more than others. From the tournament, Mastrogiacomo and Owens know what they need to improve in order to help their team come back from their deficit in the spring.
“For me, a big thing was definitely my putting,” Mastrogiacomo said. “The first day I was making a lot of long putts, but the second day I was three-putting a lot. Strength and conditioning is also important. I could feel myself on the second day, falling off, getting a little tired and making more mistakes. I have to be more consistent and hit the shots I need to hit.”
Owens agrees with Mastrogiacomo that after many holes, players do start to feel tired, so there is going to be an emphasis on strength and conditioning in order to minimize the fatigue and maximize the strong output.
Howard’s expectations for the spring portion of the Empire 8 tournament are high. He believes that his group of players will put the work in and prepare themselves for when they have to go out there again and erase the deficit.
“It’s going to be a good challenge,” Howard said. “Hershey country club is a tough course, but we have a tournament there before that and a couple practice rounds in order to prepare. But how we perform is based on what we do between now and then.”
The Lakers have had success so far this fall season in different tournaments, coming in first a couple of times, and top three in a couple others. There are many factors that could be the reason their season has gone the way it has. For Mastrogiacomo, it has been about having fun, and when you have fun you play good, as well as having the ability to practice everyday to work on different skills. Owens on the other hand attributes the success to the strong team chemistry between the team.
“For knowing each other for only a little over a month, we are all super close already,” Owens said. “Even for the guys that aren’t in the tournaments, to have them come out and support us just makes us a lot closer as a team.”
The Lakers have their final tournament of the fall at the Nazareth College Invitational this weekend, Oct. 9-10.
Photo provided by Oswego State Athletics
