LEWISBURG, Pa. (10/14/2019) -- Junior
Jonathan Brillati posted another career-low, this time going 2-under par in the final round, and he rose up the leaderboard to win his first collegiate event in the Bucknell Fall Invitational on Monday.
With Brillati's career-best 2-under 68 and senior
Scott Sparks also tying his career-low with 68, the Titans shot a tournament-best 280 in the final round and finished in second place with a 574 (294-280) at the par-70, 6,224-yard Bucknell Golf Club in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. The 574 now stands as the third-lowest 36-hole tournament mark in school history and the lowest since 2008, while the final-round 280 is tied for the seventh-best round in the record book and the best since 2010.
Brillati finished with a 138 (70-68) -- tied for the fourth-lowest score ever by a Titan in a 36-hole tournament -- as he followed up his first-round even-par 70 by sinking five birdies with 11 pars en route to his 2-under 68.
He started the day just two strokes off the lead, but quickly took command in an 11-hole stretch where he had five birdies and six pars to jump to first and put an exclamation point by sinking a 20-foot putt on his final hole to preserve his under the par round. He then had to wait around to see if his number would be low enough and it was to give him his first-ever win and the second by a Titan in the fall.
Sparks got off to a strong start at 1-under through 11 holes and then eagled the par 5 15th hole and ended his round with a birdie on 18 to card the 68 and take 11th place with a 143 (75-68), tied for the 15th best 36-hole mark in school history.
Sophomore
Anthony Occhiuto tied for 12th with a 144 (72-72) as he posted his second-straight 2-over 72, while junior
Bryce Douglas and sophomore
James Hill shared 39th with a 149.
The event concluded the fall portion of the Titans' 2019-20 slate as the team will now head to winter practice in preparation for the championship spring season.
Titan Scorecard
Tournament Highlights
- The Titans' 574 team score is behind only the 560 at the 2006 IPFW Fall Classic and the 567 at the 2008 Ft. Lauderdale Classic in the school record book
- The 280 in the final round was the best since totaling a 279 in the second round of the Georgetown Intercollegiate in 2010
- The last time the Titans had two different winners in a season was in the 1998-99 season as Brad Spears won the Wright State Invitational and Jason Hartman won the MCC title
- The 36-hole Titan record was a 135 by David Byrne at the 2006 IPFW Fall Classic, while Titan Hall-Of-Famer Mark Sommerfeld owns the next three best marks with a 136, 137 and a 138, the last two in 2008
- Brillati's previous career low was a 72 in the second round of the 2017 Motown Collegiate and in the first round of the 2018 Turning Stone Tiger Intercollegiate
- Sparks' other 68 was in the second round of the 2017 Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate
- Douglas' previous 18-hole best was a 72 in the second round of the 2019 CSU Invite and in the first round of the 2019 Big Blue Intercollegiate
- Brillati was second in the competition with nine birdies, while Occhiuto led the team and was tied for sixth with 25 pars
- Sparks was one of five golfers with an eagle in the event
- Brillati led the field with a -4, 3.80 average on the course's par 4's, while Douglas was tied for fifth with an even-par 4.00 average
- Sparks led the tournament on the par 5's with a -4, 4.33 average
Coach Erik Taurence On The Event
- "We did a better job today than yesterday and I was happy with the way we played to end the fall season."
- "The wind definitely played a factor in the afternoon for the teams left playing, and if we could have made a few more shots yesterday, we could have had a win."
- "Jonathan is a hard-working, great kid and we are all happy that he was able to get this. He works so hard and sometimes his confidence lingers, but he played really well and he can be a factor for us. Even in the end on 18, he had a bad tee shot and looked like he was going to have a terrible hole, but he played it well and hit a long putt to keep himself in contention for that win."
- "It was good to see Scott come back and play really well today and we know what kind of player he can be. James played well both days I thought, he just couldn't score yesterday, but he came back and did a good job of that today and really helped put us in a position to win."
