HAMILTON, N.Y. (4/23/10) - The Colgate men’s golf team is set to host the Patriot League Championship this weekend, April 24-25 at the Seven Oaks Golf Course. The Championship is a two-day, 54-hole event with 36 holes set for Saturday and 18 for Sunday. Golfers will tee off at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
The Raiders are hosting the event for the fifth time overall and the first since 2004. Seven Oaks is a 6915 yard course and is a par-72 with a par-36 on both the front and back nine. Six golfers will compete for each team with the low four scores in each round used for team scoring.
Bucknell enters the tournament as the pre-season favorite and defending champion. Led by senior Andrew Cohen who claimed the top individual finish last year, the Bison will look to win their fourth title in five years. Navy is the only other team to have won the Championship in the last five years and finished last season in second place.
Led by senior captain David Ake (Topsfield, Mass.), the Raiders will have the home course advantage, a benefit that helped lead Colgate to a first place finish at its own fall invitational this year among a field that included both Bucknell and Lafayette. Sophomores Ben Jessen (West Simsbury, Conn.) and Josh Spellman (Woodcliff Lake, N.J.) led the Raiders at that invitational finishing tied for third. Jessen was also the team’s top individual in last year’s Patriot League tournament.
Army, Lehigh, Lafayette and Holy Cross are also vying for the Championships. Army’s last crown was won back in 2005. Lehigh, which won back-to-back titles in 1996 and 1997, will rely on Steve Suarez, the 2007 Patriot League co-Rookie of the Year to lead the Mountain Hawks to a title. Lafayette and Holy Cross have never won a conference Championship but will both look to change that with deep line-ups this year.