As the leaves fall and temperatures drop, it is common to see golfers move their clubs to the basement for the winter season. But for the men’s golf team there is still much to be accomplished. With two tournaments left this season, the team will continue practicing until the first week of November, when they will compete in the Big East Challenge in Winter Garden, Fla.

On Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, the team competed in Ithaca, N.Y., at the Cornell Invitational. After the first day of competition, Villanova sat in ninth place, following a 16-stroke improvement from their first 18-hole round. Senior co-captain Steve Arnold was Villanova’s top finisher in 26th place, with a three-round score of 229 (+13). After a frustrating final round, Villanova slipped from ninth to finish 10th in the 15-team field.

This past weekend proved to be even more of a challenge for the team as they entered the Big 5 Classic, held at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. The competitors struggled to complete 18 holes before dark, postponing the finish of the round until the following day. Senior Brock Bergman led Villanova after his first 18 holes with a four-over-par 75, landing him in 14th place overall.

On Saturday, despite its four stroke improvement from Friday, Villanova unfortunately dropped from 12th place to 14th place. Bergman’s final round score of 82 pushed him back to 37th place. However, he was still the top Villanova finisher. Sophomore Brett Bergman posted a strong 76 on Saturday after an extremely tough round on Friday.

Despite a few recent struggles on the course, the team still maintains a good attitude and looks to be a threat in both the upcoming Georgetown Invitational and the Big East Challenge.