Rutgers
New York Harbor Cup
Espenshade Leads RU with Top-4 Finish at NY Harbor Cup
Sep 01 | Men's Golf
Team Finishes 5th in Inaugural RU-Hosted Event
BAYONNE, N.J. — Bennett Espenshade closed with the low round of the week for Rutgers, a 3-under final round, to finish tied for fourth individually at 7-under — the best finish by a Scarlet Knight — as Rutgers wrapped up the inaugural New York Harbor Cup with a fifth-place team finish at 6-under Tuesday at Bayonne Golf Club.
Final Team Standings
| Pos | Team | Total | RD1 | RD2 | RD3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas | -25 | -15 | -7 | -3 |
| 2 | Purdue | -23 | -7 | -14 | -2 |
| T3 | Little Rock | -11 | -8 | -9 | +6 |
| T3 | Michigan State | -11 | -1 | -4 | -6 |
| 5 | Rutgers | -6 | -7 | +4 | -3 |
| T6 | Marquette | -2 | -8 | -1 | +7 |
| T6 | USF | -2 | +1 | -4 | +1 |
| 8 | West Virginia | +20 | E | +12 | +8 |
| 9 | Nebraska | +37 | +1 | +16 | +20 |
Rutgers' 3-under final round was the second-best score of the day, trailing only Michigan State's tournament-best 6-under, and lifted the Scarlet Knights one spot into fifth place overall. Kansas closed with a 3-under of its own to hold off Purdue (2-under final round) for the team title, while Michigan State's closing charge pulled the Spartans into a tie for third with Little Rock.
Rutgers' Final Round: Espenshade's 3-under paced the Scarlet Knights and was the low counting score, joined in the counting four by even-par rounds from TJ Thompson, Argyle Downes and Lucas Politano. Carlo Melgrati's 2-over was the drop score.
All Rutgers Finishes
| Player | RD1 | RD2 | RD3 | Total | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bennett Espenshade | -3 | -1 | -3 | -7 | T4 |
| TJ Thompson | -2 | +4 | E | +2 | T23 |
| Argyle Downes | +1 | +3 | E | +4 | T27 |
| Lucas Politano | -3 | +8 | E | +5 | T30 |
| Carlo Melgrati | +7 | -2 | +2 | +7 | T36 |
| Daniel Martinez Regal (IND) | +1 | +2 | +4 | +7 | T36 |
| Jamie McGeoch (IND) | +6 | -2 | +7 | +11 | T44 |
| Derek Gutierrez (IND) | -1 | +7 | +8 | +14 | T47 |
Individually, Espenshade's 7-under finish put him in a tie for fourth with Marquette's Ryan Banas, two shots behind Kansas' Nicolas Vidal Reig (3rd, 9-under) and five behind co-medalists Arthur Carlier (Kansas) and Jenson Forrester (Purdue), who each finished at 12-under to share medalist honors.
Top 5 Individual Finishers
| Pos | Player | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Arthur Carlier | Kansas | -12 |
| T1 | Jenson Forrester | Purdue | -12 |
| 3 | Nicolas Vidal Reig | Kansas | -9 |
| T4 | Ryan Banas | Marquette | -7 |
| T4 | Bennett Espenshade | Rutgers | -7 |
Bennett Espenshade on his week:
"First I want to give a big thank you to Bayonne Golf Club for letting us come out — the venue is absolutely spectacular. And I've got to give a shoutout to our coaches, Coach [TK — confirm name] and Coach Braggs — they did a fantastic job not only getting us ready, but getting the tournament ready and giving a great experience for everyone."
"I had a new putter in the bag this week and putted great, so that was fantastic. I felt like I had really good command of my golf ball and left it in the right spots — that made life pretty easy for myself."
"My favorite shot of the tournament has got to be today on No. 8. I had some demons left over from yesterday — I hit a bad one on that hole in round two — and then today I hit a great one from almost in Narnia, about 30 feet, and ended up making birdie. That really solidified my standing in the round, and I felt pretty good about that."
"Even though I've played here a handful of times in qualifying or with the team, to see it in a setting like this and have so many other great players play alongside me was super special. The course was in fantastic shape — the best I've ever seen it — and I'm really glad everyone enjoyed it. It was just a great event."
"Taking the ferry to the course was definitely a first, and very interesting — I'm pretty glad I didn't have any seasickness issues. Staying in the city for a couple of days was absolutely awesome, and there were so many fun things to do — the team went to the Central Park Zoo and caught a Yankees game. It was just an incredibly fun week overall."
Rutgers hosted the nine-team field for the inaugural New York Harbor Cup at Bayonne Golf Club.
Head coach Rob Shutte on why the program put the event together:
"What motivates us to put this event on is that skyline back there — the experience of taking the ferry in and out of the city each day, right underneath the Statue of Liberty. You take players in this field from all over the world, all over the country — some have been to New York City before, but none of them have been to this property. To be able to play golf in kind of this Irish-y, Scotland links style and combine that with the New York City views, the breeze and the hospitality — it's a very first-class event. It kind of reflects the Big Ten Conference, reflects Rutgers University, reflects this club, and all of the corporate sponsors that we have putting this event on."
"Our goal this year is just to get better every year. We're going to start here in New Jersey, and we're going to end here in New Jersey at the Big Ten Championships in the spring at Baltusrol, so it's great to have a lot more tournaments closer to home. We've got a great group of eight guys this year, really bonding together, and they've been proud of this event and helpful in putting it on as well. I think it should hopefully bring a sense of pride to them to showcase to these other teams and players and I think they're proud of it, and they should be. We're excited to have a fantastic year."
