With the calendar turning to September, and the sweltering heat of summer fading quickly a new year for the Men’s Golf team begins. Although the Wildcats will be without one of their top players from last year, 2017 graduate Lucas Trim, this year’s squad returns many talented players and also features some promising new faces.

The team, led by Head Coach James Wilkes, will have plenty of experience as it boasts four seniors, Andy Butler, Zach Egermayer, Will Byrne and Andrew MacMillan along with two juniors Andrew Bowyer and Delaware transfer Mark Benevento. Not to be forgotten are the team’s talented underclassmen sophomores Connor Daly and Connor Downey and freshman Matt Barnes and Reb Banas.  

Although the collegiate season is just now resuming, the Wildcats have been gearing up for this year’s competition throughout the summer months. During the time off from school, collegiate golfers have a prime opportunity to showcase their talents in a multitude of individual amateur tournaments that are hosted across the country. 

One of the most active players during the summer months was Daly. Playing in some of New York’s biggest tournaments this summer, the Westchester, N.Y. native built off of a terrific freshman season with some outstanding summer results.

In the MET AM qualifier, the sophomore shot 69 to qualify for the main event where he then proceeded to fire rounds of 74-75 to miss qualifying for match play by just two strokes. At the world renowned Bethpage Black, widely regarded as one of the hardest courses in the country, Daly put together a solid T19 finish in the New York State Am with rounds of 74, 73, 72, 80.

As many top college players do, Daly attempted to qualify for both the U.S. Open and the U.S. Amateur, two of the biggest tournaments hosted by the USGA. Although he came up short in both qualifiers, Daly played some great golf against top notch competition. In his local U.S. Open qualifier, he fired a round of 70 to miss the cut by two shots, while the US Amateur qualifier saw Daly shoot a very respectable 77, 74 to miss by just four. Another notable results for the Sophomore Co-Captain include a T9 finish at the Mittelmark Invitational with scores of 74, 75 and a second consecutive win at the Canno Invitational with a round of 69. 

Daly wasn’t the only Wildcat active on the summer circuit, however. Barnes and Butler also made their marks.

Barnes, a Bethesda, Md. resident, proved the potential he has to help the team will some stellar summer play. Rounds of 73, 76 gave him a 6th place finish at the Maryland State Junior, a result he followed up with some consistently stellar rounds at the Eastern Amateur, shooting 75, 67, 73, 73.

Butler, one of the key returning players from last year’s team, had his best result of the summer at the Western Pennsylvania Open where he came in a tie for 12th by shooting 71, 73, 69. The Oakmont, Pa. native also participated in the Canadian Amateur where he shot 72, 75 and the Pennsylvania Amateur where rounds of 73, 74, 71 placed him in a tie for 21st. 

With the summer now behind them, it is time for the team to kick off the season, and if their individual play these past few months is any indication, it should be a terrific one for the Wildcats. 

“I am looking forward to another great year with the team and am expecting us to work really hard to achieve our goals,” co-captain Daly said. “We all need to come together to improve and build something special.”

After a summer of hard work, the Wildcats appear ready to do just that.