St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
The Connecticut Cup Day Two
Gerald Mackedon Wins The Connecticut Cup Championship
10/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Final Results
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ELLINGTON, Conn. -- Tied at one-over 217, freshman Gerald Mackedon edged Boston College's Matt Naumec in an exciting one-hole playoff to win The Connecticut Cup Championship on Tuesday at the Ellington Ridge Country Club.
"When we first thought it might be a playoff, Gerry was very excited," said head coach Mal Galletta. "All he wanted to do was get ready by practicing on his putting."
In the playoff's opening shot, Mackedon drilled the ball with his driver that landed in the middle of the fairway.
Naumec would not go away as he hit his second shot onto the green about 40-feet away from the hole. That's when Mackedon separated himself with an outstanding shot from the high grass that dropped about 15-feet from the pin. The Boston College sophomore would two-putt to par before Mackedon sank a 15-footer to birdie for the win.
"About halfway through his final putt, Gerald started raising his hands because he knew he nailed it," said Galletta. "The rest of the guys followed Gerald's lead and also started cheering. It was exciting to see them rally behind their teammate."
Sparked by the second lowest round of the tournament, Mackedon turned in a three-under 69 final round to climb six spots in the standings on Tuesday. In only his fourth collegiate tournament, the rookie came through with a clutch showing in the one-hole playoff to give the Red Storm its first medal winner since Dylan Crowley's BIG EAST Championship performance in 2015.
"Going into the tournament, I knew I was hitting the ball well but I just needed to get my putter going," said Mackedon. "I thought the team and I would be able to play well this week and thought the course setup was good for us."
"I am very proud of Gerald," Galletta added. "It is quite an achievement to win your fourth event as a college player. I am looking forward to working with him and seeing his game continue to develop. He's got a bright future and I'm very happy to have him playing for St. John's."
Once again Troy Evans registered another stellar performance; finishing only two strokes shy of his teammate with a three-over 219. Evans' fourth place tie is his fifth-career top-10 showing and second best result in two seasons at St. John's.
"I feel like I'm progressing as a player enough to where I treat each tournament as an opportunity to win," said Evans. "Even though I have yet to break through with a victory, every tournament I place well in gives me the confidence in my game to eventually grab a win."
Aided by a two-over 74 final round, Seung Yub Baek tied for 25th place.
As a team, St. John's overtook Colgate to place sixth place with a score of 900 (+36). In addition to the Raiders, the Johnnies finished ahead of Siena, Central Connecticut State, Binghamton, Fairfield, Sacred Heart, LIU Brooklyn, Rider and Canisius in the standings.
"I was very proud of the whole team for playing well in the third round and coming back to take sixth place," said Galletta.
Boston College took home the team title by a total of four strokes with a total of 888 (+24), while UConn and Cornell rounded out the top-three spots.
St. John's will close out the fall portion of its schedule on Oct. 21-22 when the team competes in the Lehigh Invitational held at the Saucon Valley Country Club.
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