April 20, 2010

Final Team Results in PDF Format

Complete Third Round Results in PDF Format

Photo Gallery

PALM HARBOR, Fla. - Georgetown Head Men's Golf Coach Tommy Hunter said it was one of the proudest moments he has had during his career at Georgetown. That his career at the head of the Hoya program has spanned 25 years makes the result of the 2010 BIG EAST Championship at Innisbrook Resort & Golf Course that much more impressive.

Hunter watched on Tuesday afternoon as senior Vincenzo Salina (Vandoeuvres, Switzerland/Institut Florimont) hit an 8-foot putt for par on the 18th hole as the Hoyas, who led by five strokes after the second round, finished with a 9-over par 293 in the third and final round and hung on to win the BIG EAST Championship by one stroke with a 54-hole score of 21-over par 873.

It is the first BIG EAST Championship for the Georgetown men's golf team since 1998 and the first conference title in any sport for Georgetown since the men's cross country team won the league title in 2008.

"I think that it's a lot harder now to do what we did," an emotional Hunter said over the phone before the awards ceremony. "When we won it in 1998, the conference was just beginning to get strong. The way it is now, it's so hard to win. For a little program like ours, we were the 11th seed of our tournament, and were knocking off teams that were in the top 50 in the country ... it's just unbelievable."

A day after firing a two-over par 286, the team's best round of golf in more than two years, Georgetown held strong down the stretch in the final round to claim their second-ever conference title (1998) on the 25th anniversary of Hunter's arrival on the Hilltop.

Georgetown's championship was spearheaded by the play of Salina, who fired a three-over par, 74 on the par-71, 7,125 yard Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club to finish in a four way tie for first place at two-over par, 215.

On the first playoff hole, the senior drained a 25-foot birdie putt to capture the individual title, Georgetown's first since Andreas Huber won individual honors in 1998. Salina held off a furious challenge on the final 18 after his first two rounds tied the Georgetown record low for 36 holes at the BIG EAST Championships (Andreas Huber, 1998) and placed him in a tie for the ninth lowest 36-hole score at the event all-time.

Salina was followed closely by three other Hoya golfers in the top-30 of the 60 player field.

Junior Brandon Ellis (Westerville, Ohio/St. Francis de Sales) shot an even-par 71 in to tie for fifth at 3-over par 216.

Junior Danny Hathway (Rockville, Md./Georgetown Prep) also carded an even par 71 in the final round to place himself in a tie for 15th at 6-over, 219.

Sophomore Brian Dorfman (Greenwood Village, Colo./Cherry Creek) ended his tournament in a tie for 30th at 11-over par 224 after shooting a 6-over par, 77 in round three. Sophomore Taylor Hall (Roswell, Ga./Blessed Trinity) rounded out Georgetown's competitors in the field at 16-over par 229 to tie for 47th. Hall shot a 6-over par, 77 in the final round.

Prior to capturing the BIG EAST crown, Georgetown's sixth place finish at the John Dallio Memorial in September was the Blue & Gray's best result of the 2009-2010 season.

Georgetown Celebrates the Victory