St. Thomas Aquinas Colege senior Kevin Gately shot a 1-under two day score of 141, earning his first collegiat victory at the Post Eagle Invitational, played at the Waterbury Golf Club. Gately was tied for first place after his first round, shooting 70 and finished alone at the top of the leaderboard after carding a 71 on day two. Gately captured medalist honors ahead of the top ranked player in the region, John Clare, who finished second.
During round one, Gately led the Spartans to a team score of 298. Gately's posted the best round of the day with a 1-under 70 after birding his final 2 holes. Behind him was junior Mike Miranda who posted a solid round of 75, while fellow senior Brendan Hunter battled back from a difficult start to card a 76. Sophomores Jack Phillips and Hamish Houston both put together rounds of 77 to round out the team scoring. The Spartans found themselves in second place by 1 shot behind Wilmington University.
In round two, Gately again led the team with a stellar round of 71. With a ruling looming over his head after his 3rd hole, Gately stuck to his game plan and played his game. His even par round was good enough for a 3 shot victory over the co-leader John Clare. Gately has come close on multiple occasions, but this time he was able to seal the deal for his first collegiate victory.
Senior Brendan Hunter was able to build on his solid finish in round one and carded a 1-over par 72. Mike Miranda struggled with the flat stick and managed to card a 74 after 39 putts on his day. Jack Phillips rounded out the team's score with a 79 while Hamish Houston had a tough day on the links, carding an 82. The team's round 2 score of 296 left them just two shots behind the winning team, Wilmington University.
The Spartans will play at the LeMoyne College Fall Invitational on Saturday October 15th.