St. Thomas Aquinas freshman Thomas Linehan won his first collegiate tournament and led the Spartan golf team to an 11 shot victory over 18 regional teams at the Dowling College September Shootout. STAC came out on day one ready to play posting a solid team score of 285(+1). Linehan and junior John Casey each posted rounds of 68 (-3). Senior Chris Fitzpatrick played another solid round of golf carding a 1-over par 72 while junior Mike Gunderson posted a 77 (+6).
Entering round two the Spartans found themselves 7 shots in front of American International College and 20 shots clear of third place. With increased winds and difficult pin placements, the team battled all dayas the group made the turn at 3 over par. Linehan who made the turn at even par, grinded out a final round 75 (+4) for a 2-day score of 143 (68-75) earning him medalist honors in his 2nd tournament of his young career. Junior John Casey battled all day, but could not find his groove. Casey posted a final round 77 for a 2-day total of 145 (68-77) leaving him in 3rd place out of 94 golfers. Junior Mike Gunderson had the best round of the day firing a stellar 72 (+1) with a tournament total of 149 (77-72) good for a T-8th place finish. Senior Chris Fitzpatrick had the exact same finish as Gunderson posting a day 2 score of 77 and a total of 149 (72-77) good for a T-8th finish.
The Spartans two day score of 586 (285-301) was good for an 11 shot victory of AIC earning the Spartans their first tournament victory of the 2010-2011 season. The team is back in action next week at the Nyack College Fall Invitational in Middletown, NY.
The team is currently ranked #44 in the country with a team scoring average of 289 and all four members of the team currently maintain scoring averages below 74.
John Casey 68-68-78-68-77 Average 71.8
Chris Fitzpatrick 73-69-70-72-77 Average 72.2
Tommy Linehan 70-77-72-68-75 Average 72.4
Mike Gunderson 73-75-69-77-72 Average 73.2