Men’s Golf Commences Fall Season at Hartford Invitational

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The Saint Peter's University men's golf program will open up its the fall portion of its 2021 season when it competes in the Hartford Hawks Invitational starting on Monday (Sept. 20) at Hop Meadow Country Club in Connecticut. The two-day tournament concludes the following afternoon. 

Closing the Book on 2020-21

• The 2020-21 academic year was anything but traditional, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancelation of all tournaments during the fall of 2020, leaving the Peacocks with an abbreviated spring slate after nearly 18 months of waiting.
• Saint Peter's had the opportunity to play in three events last March and April as a team and fared quite well, as the team logged in valuable time on the links in preparation for the 2021 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship.
• Unfortunately, COVID-19 issues prevented the full team from participating in the MAAC Championship; that being said, the trio of student-athletes who did manage to compete did so in impressive fashion highlighted by redshirt sophomore Jimmy Apostolico, who concluded his tournament showing in a five-way tie for 12th place and, more impressively, one stroke back of earning All-MAAC honors. He was one of three golfers (Melvin Morales, Jeffrey Peters) who averages scores in the 70s last spring.

Meet the Peacocks

• Highlighted by the return of all three student-athletes who participated in last year's MAAC Championship as individuals, the Peacocks' 2021-22 roster is an even split between those with collegiate golfing experience and newcomers.
• In addition to Apostolico, who averaged an 8-over for the spring, fellow seniors Melvin Morales and Caleb Rossi are back in the fray this fall alongside rising sophomore Adam Varela.
• Morales finished last spring as the team's top golfer statistically, averaging a team-low score of 76.27 strokes/round. Varela (80.60) showed flashes during his first three tournaments in the collegiate ranks, while Rossi (81.47) is as experienced as anyone on the roster.
• First-year sophomore Antonio Conde Ortega joins true freshman Evan Koutsopetras as newcomers to the program, and both bring impressive resumes from their days before Jersey City into the program and could look to crack the lineup right out of the gate.

The Schedule

• The Peacocks will play a four-tournament slate for the fall of 2021.
• After this weekend's Hartford Hawks Invitational, the program will head up the New York State Thruway to Kingston, New York, for the Columbia University-hosted Autumn Invitational (Oct. 11) at Wiltwyck Golf Club.
• After another two-week hiatus, the Peacocks will travel to Long Island for the 2021 Nassau Intercollegiate hosted by Long Island University. The two-day event will run from Oct. 25-26 and be played at Nassau Country Club in Glen Cove, New York.
• Finally, the Peacocks round out the fall at the Wagner College-hosted Metropolitan Intercollegiate Championship from October 31 through November 2 at Montclair Golf Club in nearby West Orange.