ALTAMONT, N.Y.?The Binghamton University men and the University of Hartford women golf teams took home the titles at the 2005 America East Golf Championship at the Orchard Creek Golf Club in Altamont, N.Y.
Behind 2005 Kenneth J. Pope medalist freshman Zach Vinal, the Bearcats (594) cruised to a 20-stroke victory over second-place Hartford (614) and third-place Boston University (652). Vinal’s second-round 71 ties the eighth-best 18-hole score in conference history, while his 36-hole tally of 144 ranks third-best in the league annals and was at least six strokes better than the rest of the field over the event. Vinal did have plenty of help in the tournament as teammates Brad Moulton, Aaron Ungvarsky and Jeff Wolniewicz all tied for second (150) along with Boston University leader Remington Sloan.
The Hawks secured second-place on the men’s side by locking down positions six through 10. Matt Burroughs and Dustin Wetherup were the low men for Hartford with scores of 152.
On the women’s side of things, the Hartford Hawks (668) came back from an 11-stroke deficit following day one to win their first-ever conference crown. Juliana Carrillo led the Hawks with the third-best tally of the tournament (166), while teammates Jennifer Guido and Adrianna DiLonardo both shot 168. DiLonardo’s second-round 77 was the best 18-hole performance in the events two-year history.
Hartford’s depth enabled them to overcome the 1-2 punch of Jill Friedman and Diane Onofry of University at Albany (673). Friedman and Onofry share the women’s medalist honor with identical 165’s over the two-day event. Boston U. (687) rounded out the three-team field and was led by Brenna Gibson’s 166.
Binghamton men’s coach Nick Lasky was named Coach of the Year, while Donna Harris of Hartford took home the women’s Coach of the Year honor.
The America East Championship, which is in its 17th year for the men and the second year for the women, is stroke play with the top four of a team’s five golfers counting toward the score in each round. The entire two-day event was played at Orchard Creek Golf Club.