Rhode Island’s men’s golf team struggled in the opening round of the Sam Ryder Intercollegiate, held Monday at LPGA International’s Hills Course in Daytona Beach, Florida. After two rounds, the Rams are in 10th place out of 14 teams.
The team faced difficulties early, finishing 19 strokes over par after the first round. This left them 24 strokes behind tournament host Stetson University, which led with a five-under-par opening round. Head coach Gregg Burke addressed the team’s performance and challenges.
“Today was very little of what we wanted, but sadly some of what has been coming,” Burke said. “We have not been at our best with doing simple things like being on time, fulfilling responsibilities, or handling distractions. We’ve lacked leadership but I see that improving as we move forward.”
He continued: “That all said, I believe in this team as a group. We need to block out noise on the golf course and buckle down off the course. There has been a certain feeling of entitlement and we’ve spoiled them a bit. We will look at all of that moving forward.
“But make no mistake. This group has talent. It’s up to all of us to decide what to do with that.”
Rhode Island improved in the second round by reducing their score by 12 strokes and shooting seven over par as a team—a result tied for fifth-lowest among participating schools for that round alongside Campbell and James Madison.
Individually, Josiah Tong posted a five-under-par performance while Tyler Bruneau finished even par during Round Two, helping stabilize Rhode Island’s overall standing. Heading into Tuesday’s final round, Aidan O’Donovan and Tong are tied for 26th place individually at four-over-par each—eight shots behind leaders Jackson Hicks and Matthis Lefevre from Stetson.
Stetson leads by 13 strokes overall and is currently the only team under par heading into the final day of competition.
For Tuesday’s concluding round, Rhode Island will be grouped with Georgia State and North Dakota State.
Team standings after two rounds show Stetson leading with a total score of 568 (283-285), followed by UTEP (581), Campbell (581), Baylor (583), Toledo (592), Central Arkansas (593), James Madison (595), Lipscomb (595), Georgia State (600), Rhode Island (602), North Dakota State (608), Columbia (609), Florida Atlantic (611) and Appalachian State (614).
