University of Connecticut Athletics
Saturday, September 8
Bethpage State Park (Farmingdale, N.Y.)
All DAY
University of Connecticut
vs
DOC GIMMLER INVITATIONAL
Co-captain Jimmy Hervol
UConn Golf Opens Season At Bethpage
9/7/2018 9:05:00 AM | Men's Golf
Veteran Group Looks Forward To 11-Event Schedule
STORRS, Conn. – With virtually every player returning from last season, a veteran team of UConn men's golfers heads for Long Island this weekend to begin an 11-event 2018-19 season spread out over two semesters. The Huskies, who return 97 percent of all rounds played last season, get the season under way on Saturday and Sunday at the Doc Gimmler Invitational, hosted by St. John's University, at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y.
"It's great to have so much experience coming back," said coach Dave Pezzino, starting his 12th season at the helm of the Huskies. "Qualifying among our guys has been extremely difficult. With so much experience, it allows us to focus on other areas of player development and that's very exciting."
The Huskies have opened the season at the Doc Gimmler in each of the past two years and have experienced success with two Top Five finishes. UConn came in third last year and fourth in 2016, when then-UConn sophomore Jimmy Hervol won the tournament.
"It's always a great test for us to start off with," Pezzino said. "Bethpage is a course on which you have to go low, especially with the strong field that always makes up the tournament."
The Huskies will again be co-captained by Hervol (Hopkinton, Mass.), one of the finest and most consistent players in the history of the program, and fellow senior Nabeel Khan (Westerville, Ohio).
"Jimmy and Nabeel are two high-achievers, both on and off the course," Pezzino said. "Hopefully, the younger guys are learning from them what the academic and athletic expectations are for our program."
The remainder of the UConn roster also includes seniors Nick Harrington (Chaplin, Conn.) and Blake Kelley (Manchester, Conn.), redshirt juniors Drake Hull (Rutland, Vt.) and Zach Iannone (Hamden, Conn.), junior Tim Umphrey (Northborough, Mass.), redshirt sophomore Chandler Morris (Hobe Sound, Fla.), sophomores Rodrigo Sanchez (Santo Domingo, D.R.), Jack Boulger (Walpole, Mass.) and Finn Boynton (Milford, Mass.) and freshman Nick Hampoian (North Reading Mass.).
"With a veteran team like we have this season, we should expect to play smart, disciplined and patient golf," Pezzino said. "When the guys do that, special things can happen."
Following the season-opening event at Bethpage, the Huskies will have a 10-day break before competing in the University of Hartford's Hartford Hawks Invitational on Sept. 18-19 at Bull's Bridge Golf Club in South Kent, Conn. UConn then heads for Akron, Ohio, to play for the first time in the Firestone Invitational on Oct. 1-2 at Firestone Country Club, hosted by the University of Akron.
The Huskies will again host their own tournament on Oct. 7-8-9, with a different name, the UConn Invitational at GreatHorse, and at a different venue, GreatHorse, in Hampden, Mass.
The Huskies wrap up the fall portion of their schedule on Nov. 2-4 with a return to Hawaii for the second straight season, competing in the University of Hawaii's Ka'anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational at the Ka'anapali Royal Course in Maui, Hawaii.
"The strength of the field in Hawaii is probably as close to a (NCAA) regional as you can get and the opportunity for us to compete there was so exciting last year and so important to help grow our program," Pezzino said. "We are very much looking forward to going back to Maui."
UConn will pick up its schedule in the spring, 2019, semester, with seven events, starting on Feb. 23-24-25, with the Loyola Intercollegiate in Goodyear, Ariz., hosted by Loyola University of Maryland.
Loyola will also host the next event for UConn, the Fort Lauderdale Intercollegiate on March 4-5 at the Fort Lauderdale Country Club in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
On March 29-31, the Huskies will return to the FAU Spring Championship, where Hervol will defend the individual championship he won last year, at Osprey Point Golf Course in Boca Raton, Fla., hosted by Florida Atlantic University.
Following that event, UConn will compete in the prestigious Clemson Invitational on April 5-7 at the Cliffs at Keowee Falls in Sunset, S.C., and then have a quick turnaround before wrapping up the regular season by competing in the Rutherford Intercollegiate, hosted by Penn State, at the Penn State Blue Course in State College, Pa.
The American Athletic Conference Championship will be held on April 21-23 at the Innisbrook Resort Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Fla. NCAA Regional and Championship play take place in the following weeks.
"Every year I set out for our guys to play a national schedule, so they can be challenged," Pezzino said. "My second goal in building our schedule is to prepare our guys for postseason play at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort for the American Athletic Conference Championship.
"But this is a very focused group which will take one event at a time. Right now, I'm looking forward to getting to Bethpage and starting the season."
"It's great to have so much experience coming back," said coach Dave Pezzino, starting his 12th season at the helm of the Huskies. "Qualifying among our guys has been extremely difficult. With so much experience, it allows us to focus on other areas of player development and that's very exciting."
The Huskies have opened the season at the Doc Gimmler in each of the past two years and have experienced success with two Top Five finishes. UConn came in third last year and fourth in 2016, when then-UConn sophomore Jimmy Hervol won the tournament.
"It's always a great test for us to start off with," Pezzino said. "Bethpage is a course on which you have to go low, especially with the strong field that always makes up the tournament."
The Huskies will again be co-captained by Hervol (Hopkinton, Mass.), one of the finest and most consistent players in the history of the program, and fellow senior Nabeel Khan (Westerville, Ohio).
"Jimmy and Nabeel are two high-achievers, both on and off the course," Pezzino said. "Hopefully, the younger guys are learning from them what the academic and athletic expectations are for our program."
The remainder of the UConn roster also includes seniors Nick Harrington (Chaplin, Conn.) and Blake Kelley (Manchester, Conn.), redshirt juniors Drake Hull (Rutland, Vt.) and Zach Iannone (Hamden, Conn.), junior Tim Umphrey (Northborough, Mass.), redshirt sophomore Chandler Morris (Hobe Sound, Fla.), sophomores Rodrigo Sanchez (Santo Domingo, D.R.), Jack Boulger (Walpole, Mass.) and Finn Boynton (Milford, Mass.) and freshman Nick Hampoian (North Reading Mass.).
"With a veteran team like we have this season, we should expect to play smart, disciplined and patient golf," Pezzino said. "When the guys do that, special things can happen."
Following the season-opening event at Bethpage, the Huskies will have a 10-day break before competing in the University of Hartford's Hartford Hawks Invitational on Sept. 18-19 at Bull's Bridge Golf Club in South Kent, Conn. UConn then heads for Akron, Ohio, to play for the first time in the Firestone Invitational on Oct. 1-2 at Firestone Country Club, hosted by the University of Akron.
The Huskies will again host their own tournament on Oct. 7-8-9, with a different name, the UConn Invitational at GreatHorse, and at a different venue, GreatHorse, in Hampden, Mass.
The Huskies wrap up the fall portion of their schedule on Nov. 2-4 with a return to Hawaii for the second straight season, competing in the University of Hawaii's Ka'anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational at the Ka'anapali Royal Course in Maui, Hawaii.
"The strength of the field in Hawaii is probably as close to a (NCAA) regional as you can get and the opportunity for us to compete there was so exciting last year and so important to help grow our program," Pezzino said. "We are very much looking forward to going back to Maui."
UConn will pick up its schedule in the spring, 2019, semester, with seven events, starting on Feb. 23-24-25, with the Loyola Intercollegiate in Goodyear, Ariz., hosted by Loyola University of Maryland.
Loyola will also host the next event for UConn, the Fort Lauderdale Intercollegiate on March 4-5 at the Fort Lauderdale Country Club in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
On March 29-31, the Huskies will return to the FAU Spring Championship, where Hervol will defend the individual championship he won last year, at Osprey Point Golf Course in Boca Raton, Fla., hosted by Florida Atlantic University.
Following that event, UConn will compete in the prestigious Clemson Invitational on April 5-7 at the Cliffs at Keowee Falls in Sunset, S.C., and then have a quick turnaround before wrapping up the regular season by competing in the Rutherford Intercollegiate, hosted by Penn State, at the Penn State Blue Course in State College, Pa.
The American Athletic Conference Championship will be held on April 21-23 at the Innisbrook Resort Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Fla. NCAA Regional and Championship play take place in the following weeks.
"Every year I set out for our guys to play a national schedule, so they can be challenged," Pezzino said. "My second goal in building our schedule is to prepare our guys for postseason play at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort for the American Athletic Conference Championship.
"But this is a very focused group which will take one event at a time. Right now, I'm looking forward to getting to Bethpage and starting the season."
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