From beautiful Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, the UConn men’s golf team opened the spring season with Big East match play in a four-team format that included DePaul, St. John’s and Butler. The Huskies opened match play with a morning contest against Butler and took care of business, rolling to a 6-0-1 victory. Six out of the seven Huskies won their head-to-head matchups against the Bulldogs. Freshman Connor Goode secured his victory early, finding himself up three with two holes to play. Colin Spencer, Jimmy Paradise and Jared Nelson also took care of their head-to-head matchups in up three with two holes to play fashion. Eric Boulger, Trevor Lopez and Tommy Dallahan all battled down-to-the-wire finishes, but Boulger and Lopez were able to close out their victories on the 18th hole while Dallahan settled for a tie.
The Huskies advanced to play DePaul in the semifinals, who suffered a 4-2-1 defeat to St. John’s in their previous matchup. For the Huskies, the sensational play of Goode, Boulger, Paradise and Nelson carried over from the quarterfinals, as they led Connecticut to a narrow 4-3 victory over the Blue Demons.
In the final round of match play, Connecticut squared off against the Red Storm of St. John’s, who also won their quarterfinals and semifinals matchups. The Huskies battled out another narrow victory over the Red Storm, pulling away 4-2-1. Once again, it was Goode and Boulger leading the way as they both won their head-to-head matchups.
While match play is rare during the regular season, head coach Dave Pezzino noted that it is great preparation for the postseason.
“I like to mix in some match play because the [NCAA] Championship finals are match play,” Pezzino said before the event.
The Huskies couldn’t have asked for a better start as they swept their opening Big East matches. Their Big East title defense will continue in Palm City, Florida for the Advance Partners Golf Collegiate at the Hammock Creek Golf Club. The event will take place Sunday, Feb. 12 to Tuesday, Feb. 14.
