Russell paces Bulldogs to open Rhody Invite

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – After Day 1 of action at the Rhody Invitational, the Bryant University men's golf team sits tied for second place in the 8-team field with a team score of 305, just two strokes behind first-place Sacred Heart University.  Graduate student Sam Russell (Southborough, Mass.) paced the Bulldogs with an individual score of 74 (+3), finishing tied for fourth on the day.

Russell wrapped up his impressive round three strokes behind Sacred Heart's Pete Ballo, who sits in first place with a Day 1 score of 71.  The Black and Gold received strong performances from Zach Garbacik (South Hadley, Mass.), Joe Walp (Portland, Maine) and Ryan Tombs (Bedford, N.H.), who were all able to finish in the top-20 individual standings with scores of 75,78, and 78, respectively.  Sophomore Kyle Buschmann (East Haddam, Conn.) rounded out the scoring for Bryant with an 81 (+10).

The Bulldogs are currently tied with Williams College for second place, with Fordham University (306) and URI (309) following closely behind at fourth and fifth place respectively to round out the top-5 in team standings. 

Rhody Invitational play resumes Sunday morning at Green Valley Country Club in Portsmouth, R.I.