The golf team travels to Olean, NY this weekend to kick off its season at the 21st Annual Leo Keenan Invitational hosted by St. Bonaventure University. The Red is returning its entire roster from last year, plus a few new additions. The Red’s confidence is currently riding high after a productive offseason.

“I think that right now we’re all feeling really good,” said junior Dan Bosse. “We’re all really confident about our team and the lineup that we’ve got going.”

Everybody on the team has been stringing together low scores, giving them confidence heading into not only this weekend but also the rest of the season.

“Everybody’s scores have been lower than what they’ve been over the last two years,” said junior Ben Myer. “Which is obviously a good sign.”

Junior Matt Jaye, who was one of the Red’s top finishers as a freshman, was unable to play his sophomore season due to injury. It was a significant loss to the Red, but he is now back in the lineup and will be a huge add for the Red’s lineup. Mark Baity, a sophomore transfer from UConn, should also prove to be a huge boost for the team.

Just like Tiger: The greens in Olean, NY are known to be fast. The Red will have to work on its putting and chipping if it wants to find success against St. Bonaventure.

“Getting Matt Jaye back is obviously a huge addition to the squad,” Bosse said. “We’ve got some new guys that will have an impact too. Mark Baity from UConn is a very good player.”

The sole senior on the team, Robert Cronheim, was a consistent force for the Red. Cronheim was often the top finisher for Cornell last season. Coach Matt Baughan and the rest of the team will be looking to Cronheim and Bosse to set the tone to the season over the weekend.

The Red did not play at St. Bonaventure last season, so most of the team with the exception of Jaye, Cronheim and Bosse has never played this course.

“It’s not a long course,” Bosse said, “But it’s got very fast, difficult greens. Our chipping and putting is going to have to be there this weekend if we’re going to put up low scores.”

Because the Red is returning their entire roster from last season, they feel an added sense of confidence heading into the year. The returning players have had their chance to get rid of rookie mistakes and get a feel for collegiate golf. The Red should present a much more unified front going into this season. The added experience from last year will prove key to victory in the coming months.

“It’s definitely nice to have our whole roster from last year back,” Bosse said. “You get comfortable with one another and can carry over the chemistry from the previous year.”

“It’s great to have everybody back,” Myer added. “We all know what to expect from week to week, and we all know that over the course of the season anything can happen.”