The St. Thomas Aquinas men's golf team made a nearly miraculous final day charge at the NCAA Super Regional tournament, posting a Day 3 score of 304, 8 strokes better than all 15 schools competing. With concrete greens, gusting winds and temperatures in the 80's, the Spartans nearly rallied to victory, but came up 4 strokes short of their goal. The Spartans finished in 3rd place in the Northeast Region, and also placed 3rd out of the 16 schools in both regions.
Leading the Spartans all week was Junior Pat Schwarze, who played an excellent 3 day event finishing second overall with a dominant 3 day total of 225 (72-78-75) just 3 strokes behind medalist Brian Mackey of Dominican College. Schwarze carded a final round 75 behind 3 birdies and 9 pars.
In his final collegiate tournament, Jordan Perretz fired a brilliant 75 capped off with a near impossible par on his final hole. After hitting a poor tee shot off the 18th tee, Perretz was faced with over 250 yards into the green. Jordan was able to fly his ball just short of the green and he quickly went on to make one of his many masterful pars from off the green. Perretz finished the Regional tournament in 15th place at 233 (75-83-75) and looks forward to assisting the program next year as short game specialist.
Freshmen Nick Zolotas and Chris Fitzpatrick added solid rounds as well with 76 and 78 respectively and finished the tournament tied for 18th place. Zolotas who came back from illness posted a 3 day total of 235 (84-75-76) while Fitzpatrick posted the same total of 235 (76-81-78).
Junior Brian Viola struggled in the final 2 rounds and finished the tournament in 31st place at 241 (76-83-82). Viola played a great front 9 shooting a respectable 37, but had difficulty on his back 9.
The Spartans finished the year with 3 tournament victories and 5 other top 5 finishes. Coach Ferrara said " I am extremely proud of the team for the way they played this week. We had the low round of the day on Monday and Wednesday which is very impressive with the caliber of teams at the NCAA Super Regionals. We are happy with our comeback, but look to improve next year."
Click here for Day 3 photos at NCAA Super Regional