Smith Leads Hawk Golfers at New England Championships

Matt Smith shot a second-round 73, pacing the Hartford men's golf team to a seventh-place finish at the New England College Championships, held April 9-10 at Newport National Country Club. Smith, who had shot a 76 in the first round, finished tied for seventh individually. Patrick Ross also finished in the top 10, thanks to a second-round 69 that stands as the best round for any Hawks golfer this year. Ross tied for ninth with his combined total of 150.

Ross' three-under round of 69 was also the low round of the full field.

Smith finished just seven strokes back of the overall champion, David Renski of Sacred Heart. The Pioneers finished second as a team, two strokes behind Central Connecticut. Hartford, which posted a 615 as a team, was 25 strokes behind the Blue Devils.

Every Hartford participant had at least one round in the 70s over the weekend, with Smith the only one to do so in both his rounds. With the exception of D.J. Lantz, who followed up a first-round 79 with a second-round 80, the Hawks saw improvement in each of their second-round totals. As a squad, Hartford carded a 299 in the final loop, tied for the third-best team score on Sunday.

Sean Ko put together an 80 on Saturday, following that up with a 78 on Sunday to finish tied for 35th overall at 158. Lantz's 79-80--159 left him tied for 39th, while Robert Gibbons improved on a first-round 86 with a second-round 79 to leave himself tied for 54th overall.