Men's Golf Rallies for Second-Place Finish

Sophomores Wally Gonzalez and Dan Yustin each carded rounds of 69 Sunday in the final round of the Macdonald Cup, held in New Haven, Conn., to push the University of Hartford men's golf team to a second-place finish in the 36-hole tournament.

Hartford posted a combined score of 284 in Sunday's final round, jumping from a tie for fifth in the team standings into a tie for second overall. Including Saturday's score of 283, the Hawks posted a 36-hole 567, three strokes behind tournament champion Yale and tied for second with St. John's.

Gonzalez and Yustin each posted season-best rounds of 69 in Sunday's final round to propel the Hawks up the standings. Paired with his Saturday round of 73, Gonzalez posted a two-day score of 142 to tie for 15th in the individual standings. Yustin finished one stroke behind Yustin for the tournament, finishing tied for 22nd.

Evan Russell paced the Hartford lineup over two rounds.Russell followed his 68 on Saturday with a 73 over the final 18 holes to tie for 11th in the overall standings at 141. Patrick Ross, who also shot a 68 on Saturday, completed the course in 74 strokes Sunday for a two-round total of 142. Ross tied with teammate Gonzalez for a share of 15th place. William Betts rounded out he Hartford lineup with a 73 on Sunday. Betts improved by one stroke over his Saturday score of 74 to finish the tournament at 147, tied for 34th.

The Hawks took second place at the Macdonald Cup less than one week after winning the Hartford Hawk Invitational. The squad will look to continue its solid play at the Connecticut Cup at Ellington Ridge Country Club October 8-9.