Owls’ golfer Paul Carbone leads the team to a third-place finish at weekend tournament.
When the Owls linksters begin their spring season they may look back at Barnabas Health Intercollegiate tournament as the beginning of something special.
The Owls, who are flourished with young talent, placed third in the tournament, only finishing behind James Madison and Seton Hall, but it was the freshman Paul Carbone who stole the show. Carbone shot an even-par 144 in the two rounds which was good for co-medalist honors in the entire tournament. Carbone tied with three other players at the tournament held in Bedminster, N.J.
“It felt really good and was a great experience for me only being a freshman and getting my first win,” Carbone said. “The course was phenomenal and really fun to play, I really hope I can build off of this win heading into the spring season.”
Coach Brian Quinn, who stresses consistent golf play from his team, said he was proud of Carbone, but is looking at the bigger goal of getting his team prepared for the spring season.
“We have a lot to learn from the fall, these guys have grown up a lot and I’ve seen how much we’ve improved already as a team,” Quinn said. “I’m so proud of [Carbone], and all of the team but we still gave away a few shots that will be the difference in us coming in third or first in these kind of tournaments.”
Looking forward to the spring, Quinn has the talent to mold this group into a special group of players, along with Carbone, sophomore Steve Burak placed 18th, and freshman Mike Amole, who received his first start of the fall, placed 21st, respectively. Rounding out the scoring for the Owls were junior Devin Bibeau, and sophomores, Matthew Crescenzo and Russell Hartung, who finished with totals of 153, 159, and 163 respectively.
Carbone showed persistence that Quinn has been waiting to see all fall from his team.
“We struggled finishing rounds, the last few holes gave us problems, [Carbone] showed me something I have been waiting to see though,” Quinn said. “He had a double-bogey on the 16th hole, but he persevered through that and managed to finish with a par and a birdie on numbers 17 and 18,”
“The conditions were real tough out there especially on Saturday, the wind was blowing very hard, but I’m very proud of each of these guys for the way they played this weekend, were just going to keep working and hopefully have a successful spring.” Quinn added.
In collegiate golf many of the tournaments are based on team scores, so when Carbone double-bogeyed number 16 he really focused in knowing that his team was counting on him to turn in a good score.
“After the double bogey I was very upset, but in a way it helped me focus more on 17 and 18, I just told myself, don’t let your team down,” Carbone said.
Quinn said he is optimistic about the future of not only his squad, but of each individual player.
“It’s been fun teaching these guys how to play Owl golf, there a young crew and I think were ready to making a big jump in the spring,” Quinn said. “I’m really excited to spend the next few years with all of these guys.”
Anthony Bellino can be reached at anthony.bellino@temple.edu
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