Buschmann leads Bryant to top-3 finish

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- After two strong Monday rounds, the Bryant University golf team put up its best round of the 2012 season Tuesday in the final round of the Connecticut Cup, using the three-over 291 to leapfrog into the top three and finish tied for third in the 15-team field.

The Bulldogs finished the Connecticut Cup just five strokes behind team winner the University of Hartford with an 887 and placed one golfer in rookie Kyle Buschmann (East Haddam, Conn.) inside the individual top 10.

Buschmann finished seventh overall in a field of 84 golfers with a three-round 217, just one stroke over par, and carded scores of 71 (-1) in the first and third laps. His Tuesday 71 lifted him from 12th overall into the top 10, the first such finish of his young career.

Conor McGovern (Darien, Conn.) and Zach Garbacik (Hadley, Mass.), along with Hartford's Patrick Ross, finished in a three-way tie for 22nd, putting up identical scores of 223 on the competition. Garbacik shot for par Tuesday to jump 11 places in the standings while McGovern stumbled slightly with a third-round 75 to fall from 17th entering the final round.

Freshman Joe Walp (Portland, Maine) also made improvements in Tuesday action, posting his best score of the tournament with a one-over 73 to jump 10 spots into a tie for 31st on the individual circuit. Brendan Rowe (Medway, Mass.) rounded out Bryant's participants, finishing the Connecticut Cup knotted for 77th with a 238.

The Bulldogs opened tournament play with the best early round in the field, putting to a 293 (+5) to stand alone at the top of the team leaderboard Monday. The second round saw Bryant fall into a tie for fifth after a team score of 303, but the Black and Gold rebounded well Tuesday with the 291, marking the squad's best round of 2012 action to finish third.

Fairfield and UConn matched the Bulldogs' overall team score to create the three-way tie, with URI besting the trio by a single stroke to finish second on the tournament, four strokes behind Hartford.

Zack Zaback of UConn golfed as an individual only and took home the individual tournament title with a two-day 211 (-5), topping Dylan Newman of Iona, who led entering the final round.

The Bulldogs take the next week off and will return to the course Oct. 20-21 at the AIC/Adelphi Intercollegiate Classic at Connecticut National Golf Club in Putnam, Conn.