Golf Looks To Reclaim Little Three Championship

For up-to-the-minute updates from the course during the championship, follow along with head coach John Powers as he tweets from @BonniesGolf.

LEWISTON, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure golf team heads north Tuesday for the annual Little Three Championship against Niagara and Canisius at Niagara Falls Country Club.

Niagara will host the championship, and for the first time in its history all three teams will play two rounds of 18, beginning at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

After winning six straight Little Three championships in a row, the Bonnies finished third last year behind the Griffs and Purple Eagles. It was the Griffs first Little Three title since 1991.

At last year's championship, then-sophomore Brian McKenna finished first for the Bonnies and tied for second overall with a round of 72. Then-freshman Chris Mackey – playing as an individual – finished second on the roster and tied for ninth overall.

The only other two current Bonnies who participated in last year's championship are Greg Horvath and Scott Brady (pictured). Also playing as an individual, Horvath finished tied for 11th with a score of 78, while Brady finished tied for 14th overall after firing a round of 79.

"We can improve a lot on last year's result if we get consistent play from our third and fourth scorers," head coach John Powers said. "We definitely have the ability to win this championship, but it's going to take a total team effort. Everybody has seen the course and they know where to hit it."

The Bonnies are coming off a 14th-place finish in their season-opening tournament at Turning Stone two weekends ago against a difficult field full of schools from the Big 12, BIG 10 and BIG EAST.

Canisius began its season Sept. 3-4 at the Fossum/Spartan Invitational hosted by Michigan State where it finished last in the field of 12. Niagara was scheduled to begin its season over the weekend at the Colgate Invitational; however, the invite was canceled due to heavy rains which battered the central New York area last week.

Home of the Porter Cup – one of the most elite amateur golf tournaments in the world – the Niagara Falls Country Club is a par-70, 6,621-yard championship course which features 90 sand traps.

Following the Little Three Championship, St. Bonaventure will host the 23rd Annual Leo Keenan Invitational at Bartlett Country Club in Olean this coming Sunday (Sept. 18) and Monday (Sept. 19).