Golf faces tough squads | The Triangle

Golf faces tough squads

The Drexel University golf team will hit the links this year with the intention of building off of their success from last season.

The Dragons will be facing some very challenging squads, and extremely unforgiving courses in the 2011-12 season.

“Our overall goal is to get better with each tournament,” head coach Mike Dynda said.

They begin their quest in Olean, N.Y., at the Bartlett Country Club for the St. Bonaventure Keenan Invitational. The Bonnies will be defending their title from last year, having won the event in 14 of its first 22 years of existence. Drexel hopes to break that trend as they will also be competing against Cornell University, La Salle University, Fairmount State, Long Island University and Robert Morris University, to name a few. The Dragons placed sixth last season at Bartlett, shooting a combined 604 and finishing 23 streaks off the lead.

On Sept. 26, the Dragons will travel to South Kent, Conn., for the Hartford Hawks Invitational held at Bulls Bridge Golf Club, nestled in the woods in northwestern Connecticut. The beauty of this course must not be taking lightly, as it can play very difficult. Drexel finished eleventh of 15 last year, but they look to improve that mark behind senior leader Mike Serensits, who shot a team best 156 at Bulls Bridge last season.

Although the Dragons will compete in many good tournaments this season, there is one that jumps off the schedule.

“We are really looking forward to the Big 5 tournament in the fall,” Dynda said.

The Big 5 invitational, which will pit Drexel against some city rivals, will be held Oct. 8 in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. The Dragons finished fourth of the six “City 6” schools last season, while Furman University shot a tremendous 574 at Plymouth Country Club to claim the title. Andrew Lawson paced Drexel last year with a pair of 76’s at the invitational.

Oct. 11 will prove to be a fun and challenging day for Drexel as they compete Philadelphia University Golf Classic at the renowned Ace Club in Lafayette Hill. The Ace Club is one of Philadelphia’s most exclusive and taxing courses — it’s a mammoth 7,500 yards from the tips, and this Gary Player designed course will allow the Dragons to showcase their talents as much as it will expose any weaknesses. Drexel will be defending their title from last season where they edged out Goldy-Beacon by four strokes. The Dragons will need to fill the big golf shoes of graduate Ben Feld, who led the team and won medalist honors with a 74 last year.

The Dragons will close out their season Oct. 23 at the ODU/OBX Invitational held in the scenic Outer Banks, N.C. The Dragons finished 18th last season with a combined three-day score of 908. They look to significantly improve upon that mark this season.

Dynda will need high caliber play from his two seniors who really emerged last season, Andrew Lawson and Mike Serensits, for the Dragons to compete in the very difficult matches that await them this fall.

“We have 10 good players who will compete for the top five spots each week which will make the team strong this season,” Dynda said.