The men’s golf team, led by low-scoring junior Brendan Kelly, was one of 18 teams that participated in this weekend’s McLaughlin Invitational.

The annual invitational, hosted by St. John’s University, was played at the prestigious Bethpage Red Course in Farmingdale, N.Y. Many golf fans will note that this difficult course borders the infamous Bethpage Black Course, which hosted the U.S. Open this past summer.

The Wildcats got off to a quick start in the first round, posting a nine-over 289, and finished the first round in eighth place.

Unfortunately, the ‘Cats couldn’t keep up with the late round surges of the remaining teams and failed to move up further in the standings. The team finished the three-round tournament in 12th place, with a combined 35-over 875.

There were a number of impressive individual scores posted despite the disappointing team performance. The low scores for Villanova golfers were Kelly’s two-under 68 in the final round, and sophomores Brian Colbert and Bret McGaughey’s matching opening round 71s.

Kelly, who was the top finisher for the ‘Cats, posted a final round score that was the second-best of the day and eighth-best of the entire tournament. Coupled with his other scores of 73 and 76, Kelly finished at a respectable seven-over 217, and in 34th place. Junior Colin List and freshman Steve Skurla also contributed to the effort for the Wildcats.

The overall winner of the tournament was small but talented Coastal Carolina University.

Led by the top scorer for the tournament, Sam Lyons, the Chanticleers finished at five-under for the tournament to take top honors. Remarkably, the Chanticleers had their four top scorers all finish in the top eleven, creating a cushion no other school could overcome.

Other top schools were UNC Wilmington, Towson University and Johnson and Wales, who finished second, third and fourth respectively.

Fellow Big East schools St. John’s, Rutgers and Connecticut finished fifth, seventh and ninth. Big Five member Temple University finished in 16th place.

This weekend the men’s golf team will travel to Sunset Beach, N.C. to participate in the Sea Trails Intercollegiate Invitational hosted by Elon University. The three-round tournament will run from tomorrow to Sunday.