Men Do Not Abate at Cornell Golf Invitational

Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Led by senior Alex Abate (Augusta, Ga.), the Big Green men's golf team finished play on a rain-shortened day on Saturday at the Cornell Golf Invitational in a tie for fourth place out of the 15 teams competing at eight-over par (296). Abate ended the day in a tie for fifth place with a one-under par 71, trailing the leader, Dan Abbondandolo of Siena, by four strokes.

Head Coach Rich Parker made sure Abate was in the lineup after his performance at the Hanover Invitational last week when he tied for fourth while playing as an unattached golfer. Abate continued his strong play by recording six birdies in his round, the second most of all participants. Three of those birdies came on the four par five holes at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course.

Also finishing among the top 10 was freshman Pete Williamson (Hanover, N.H.) at even par, tying for 10th place. While Abate did his best scoring on the par fives, Williamson had the second best scoring average in the tournament on the par fours. He scored one-under par on those 10 holes, trailing only the leader Abbondandolo who was two-under.

Sophomore Davis Mullany (Great Barrington, Mass.) tied for 29th place with a 75 (+3), junior Dave Putney shot a 78 (+6) in the round, and freshman Teddy Overton (Paradise Valley, Ariz.) ended his day with an 82 (+10).

Delaware was the only team to play the first round under par with a 287 (-1), led by Stephen Scialo's 69 (-3). Siena was just one stroke back with an ever par 288, while Columbia shot 290.

Due to the rain, the tournament was shortened to two rounds, with play beginning on Sunday morning.

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