The Saint Anselm golf team has competed in two tournaments this fall. They came in first out of eleven teams at the Bowdoin Invitational and tied for eighth out of 14 teams at the Penmen Invitational. In both tournaments, junior Hawk golfer Steve Hunt led the Saint Anselm team in scoring. Hunt led not only the Hawks, but also the entire field at the first tournament this fall, the Bowdoin Invitational. Hunt claimed Men’s Golf Co-Golfer of the Week honors the week after winning the Bowdoin Invitational.

“After this summer, I felt really good about my game and wanted it to transition into this fall right away,” said Hunt in an interview with the Crier. “Both days I played very simple golf just trying to keep it in play and stay away from trouble. The course was set up pretty tough in terms of pin position, but I kept it going to shoot even par both days,” Hunt continued.

Hunt was very confident about his team after winning the Bowdoin Invitational, saying, “It was just an overall confidence booster for our team. It goes to show that our work can start to transition into our scores. This year we feel like we have the strongest chance to make it to the regional tournament.”

Junior Hawk golfer Billy Argus also commented on the win. He repeated some of Hunt’s thoughts, saying, “We came out of the gates hot at Bowdoin by winning by twenty-two shots overall. That was a good start to the season, as Steve also won by eight shots.”

The Hawk golfers did, in fact, win the Bowdoin Invitational at the Brunswick Golf Club in Brunswick, Maine on Sept. 9 and 10 by 22 strokes. The Hawks finished with a total of 603 strokes over the two days, while second place Endicott College finished with a total of 625 strokes.

As mentioned above, Steve Hunt finished first overall at a score of even par, that being 144 strokes over the two days. That was eight better than second place. Not only did the Hawks claim the top overall score, but they also claimed second overall.

Billy Argus finished with a score of 152 over the two days. Seniors Nick Carter and Tad Link finished tied for ninth overall both finishing with scores of 157. Finally, senior Robert Cole finished with a score of 159, good enough to land him tied for sixteenth.

Eight days after the end of the Bowdoin Invitational, the Saint Anselm team traveled to the Hanover Country Club in Hanover, N.H., on Monday, Sept. 18 and 19 to compete in the Penmen Invitational. The Hawks finished in ninth place out of the fourteen teams competing in the tournament. The Hawks combined total score for the two days was 584 strokes. The winning score was owned by Southern New Hampshire University, that being 555 strokes. The leader for the Hawk team, Steve Hunt, finished with a score of 138, good enough to leave him tied for fourth overall.

When asked about this tournament, Hunt responded, “This tournament was pretty absurd in the fact that through two rounds I had one bogey and one birdie and the rest of my scores were all pars. After putting together a good round the first day of one under par, I knew that if I wanted to take a shot at the lead I would have to shoot a score of two under. After starting out even through my first nine holes, I knew I had to start making some birdies, but unfortunately, my shots didn’t fall. Overall, I played good just not good enough.”

Billy Argus had this to say when asked about the tournament, “Two freshmen Hawks played well in their first tournament. I really think the future is looking bright for the Hawks. We expect to contend in the NE-10 championship. If we play well, we will be able to win it.”

As Argus stated, two freshmen Hawk golfers played in their first tournament as Saint Anselm student-athletes. These two were Maxwell Ratner and Alec Brunelle. Ratner finished with a two-day score of 146, tied for thirty-fourth, and Brunelle finished tied for forty-eighth overall with a total score of 150.

Hunt commented on the team’s play at this tournament, stating, “We had an impressive start from the freshman Max Ratner during this tournament. The rest of the boys were either off or on.”

The other players in the tournament for the Hawks were senior Nick Carter and junior Billy Argus. Carter finished tied for 55th with a score of 151 strokes, and Argus finished tied for 69th with a score of 156 strokes.

The Hawks will next play in the Northeast-10 Championship on Monday, Oct. 2. This will be hosted by Lake Sunapee Country Club in New London, N.H.

“Next week is probably the most important tournament of the fall. If we come in top 3 we can go to regionals in the spring. I know the seniors have had this on their minds for a while so we are looking forward to next week,” Hunt had to say about the upcoming tournament.

The expected line-up for the Hawks at the upcoming NE-10 Championship tournament consists of senior Tad Link, senior Nick Carter, junior Billy Argus, junior Steve Hunt, and freshman Alec Brunelle.