Men's Golf To Open Spring Schedule Sunday in Puerto Rico

[knightfan7]

The #76 ranked Scarlet Knights open the Spring season at the 16 team Palmas Del Mar Collegiate tomorrow thru Tue. Led by 197th ranked Luke Wells, who had 3 Top 11 finishes in the 6 Fall events, Rutgers will send out the same 5 who have played all events in Sr Wells, Sr Xavier Marcoux, Sr Rhett Sellers, Jr Weston Jones, and Jr Martin Leon. The entire team will compete as Soph Logan Paczewski, Fr Andrew Reyes, and Fr Derek Gutierrez are entered as individuals.

The 16 team field is led by #8 Arkansas and #15 ranked John Driscoll, #40 UNCG, #68 Michigan, #76 Rutgers, and #79 Drexel. Va Tech, BC, UConn,and Temple are among teams also entered. With 19 individuals, this would be the largest field (109) the team has competed against in some time. In the first round RU will be paired with Arkansas, UNCG, and Va Tech, teeing off at 8:30A.

After this, over the next 2+ months RU will compete in 4 events and the B1G Championship. 3 are on courses the team is familiar with including hosting the Johnnie - O in Sea Island, Ga for the 2nd time.

 

[Tango Two]

Men’s Golf Travels to Puerto Rico to Kick Off 2024 Spring Season - Rutgers University Athletics

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Rutgers men's golf takes its first trip of the season to play in the Palmas Del Mar Collegiate tournament hosted by University of North Carolina

scarletknights.com

 

[knightfan7]

Led by Xavier Marcoux's 4 Under 68 which included an Eagle on the Par 5 3rd Hole, Rutgers is T5 after the 1st Round at 2 Under Par. Marcoux is Tied for 3rd, 1 stroke behind the co-leaders.

Martin Leon (T26th) carded an Even Par 72, followed by Luke Wells and Rhett Sellers 73's and Weston Jones 75. Sellers also Eagled #3. Playing as individuals, Logan Paczewski and Andrew Reyes shot 76's and Derek Gutierrez shot 81.

Top 5 Teams After Round 1

1. #93 Kennesaw St.................-8
2. #8 Arkansas.........................-7
T3. #40 UNCG..........................-3
T3. #68 Michigan.....................-3
T5. #76 RUTGERS.....................-2
T5. #79 Drexel..........................-2

Top 5 Individuals

T1. Cook - Kennesaw St..........-5
T1. Doyle - Elon........................-5
T3. MARCOUX - RUTGERS.....-4
T3. Thompson - Michigan -4
T3. Balbin - UNCG...................-4

By the way, The son of long time Tour member and 2 time major champion John Daly, John Daly II, plays for Arkansas.

If they go by Standings, Rutgers would be paired with Drexel, #184 Mercer, and #188 Wofford in tomorrows 2nd round.

 

[knightfan7]

Today was a very pedestrian round for Rutgers, shooting a 1 Under 287. Unfortunately the 4 teams ahead of them and a few behind were driving cars. Led by UNCG's 16 Under 272, 6 teams shot -4 or better. Rutgers remains in 5th Place. 1 stroke ahead of High Point and 2 ahead of Drexel and Wofford.

Xavier Marcoux once again led RU with a 2 Under 70 and stands T6 going into the final round. Luke Wells and Weston Jones shot Even Par 72's, while Rhett Sellers and Martin Leon shot 73's.Playing as individuals Derek Gutierrez improved 8 strokes with a 73. Andrew Reyes and Logan Pacziewski shot 76's.

Top 5 Teams

T1, #8 Arkansas..................-19
T1, #40 UNCG.....................-19
3. #93 Kennesaw St...........-15
4, #68 Michigan..................-8
5. #76 RUTGERS..................-3

Top 6 Players

1. Balbin - UNCG...........................-9
T2. Borregaard - Kennesaw St...-8
T2. #15 Driscoll - Arkansas.........-8
T2. Jonsson - Mercer...................-8
5, Thompson - Michigan..............-7
T6. MARCOUX - Rutgers.............-6
T6, Driscoll - UConn.....................-6

Rutgers will be paired with Drexel, Wofford, and High Point in tomorrows final.

 

[knightfan7]

With an 11 Under 277, RU made a strong effort to improve their position in the Final Round. Unfortunately Michigan's Hunter Thompson shot a tournament best 8 Under 64. 8 Under also was their team's final round score.

Rutgers was led by the trio of Xavier Marcoux, Martin Leon, and Rhett Sellers all shooting 3 Under 69's. Luke Wells chipped in with a 2 Under 70 and Weston Jones shot a 75. Marcoux finished T5, Leon T21, Sellers and Wells T30, with Jones T67. Playing as individuals Andrew Reyes shot a 2 Under 70, finishing T68, Logan Palczewski an Even Par 72 and finished T75, and Derek Gutierrez a 73, finishing T83.

Marcoux, Reyes, and Palczewski all scored eagles during their round. In all RU scored 5 eagles during the tourney, all on the same hole, the 3rd hole, a 538yd Par 5. In all the 3rd gave up 12 Eagles over 3 rounds with RU taking 41.6% of them.

Top 5 Teams

1. #8 Arkansas.........................-27
2. #40 UNCG...........................-20
3. #93 Kennesaw State..........-19
4. #68 Michigan......................-16
5. #76 RUTGERS......................-14

Top 5 Players

1. Thompson - Michigan............-15
2. Jonsson - Mercer....................-13
3. Dallahan - UConn....................-11
4. Borregaard - Kennesaw St....-10
T5. MARCOUX - RUTGERS.........-9
T5. Larkin - Wofford....................-9

John Daly's son, John II, along with the highest ranked player in the field, #15 John Driscoll, finished T7 at -8. Both play for Arkansas.

NE Region Teams

T8. #174 UConn........................-7
10. #79 Drexel..........................-5
11. #194 Temple........................-2
12. #130 Boston Coll...............+1

The Men will next tee it up the 26th-27th at The Invitational at the Ford in Savannah, Ga.

 

[knightfan7]

Final note on the result of the tournament's 5th place finish.

In todays rankings update, Rutgers dropped 7 spots to 83rd while Michigan moved up 1 place to 67th. Rutgers is still ranked 7th in the B1G with Minnesota close behind in 87th.

SOS is very important and this tourney, other than Arkansas and perhaps UNCG, didn't have a strong field. There was a 2nd tourney in Puerto Rico at the same time. It had a much stronger field with 4 Top 10 squads and some others in the Top 30. Iowa finished 8th out of 15 yet improved from 135th to 104th.

5th is RU's best finish in '23-'24 but they need to do better against tougher competition if they want to make any significant move up.

 

[richthedentist]

Final note on the result of the tournament's 5th place finish.

In todays rankings update, Rutgers dropped 7 spots to 83rd while Michigan moved up 1 place to 67th. Rutgers is still ranked 7th in the B1G with Minnesota close behind in 87th.

SOS is very important and this tourney, other than Arkansas and perhaps UNCG, didn't have a strong field. There was a 2nd tourney in Puerto Rico at the same time. It had a much stronger field with 4 Top 10 squads and some others in the Top 30. Iowa finished 8th out of 15 yet improved from 135th to 104th.

5th is RU's best finish in '23-'24 but they need to do better against tougher competition if they want to make any significant move up.

You really have to go low these days and recruit some very talented golfers

 

[knightfan7]

You really have to go low these days and recruit some very talented golfers

Yes but I have to imagine it's difficult to convince a very talented golfer to play for a school in the NE which may be why Rutgers, Drexel, and Princeton are the only ones ranked in the top 100 for men and Yale, BC, PSU, and Delaware for women. Rutgers is #103. The thing I've seen is both teams (1) don't have "that guy" who leads the team and there's not a lot of depth or consistency round to round.

Here's the individual rankings. Remember there are over 300 Men's teams and 275 Women's teams in D1. There are around 2,200 men and 1,750 women who've played enough tourneys to be ranked.

Men

#227 Luke Wells *
#318 Xavier Marcoux *
#359 Rhett Sellers *
#961 Martin Leon ?
#1002 Weston Jones
#1593 Logan Paczewski

Women

#441 Leigha Devine *
#538 Rikke Nordvik *
#695 Cathi Graf *
#721 Lorena Rossettin
#740 Lucrezia Rossettin
#1107 Emily James
#1111 Krystal Li

* The Men will lose 3-4 players after this season, The women at least 3.