University of Connecticut Athletics
Golf Opens Spring at Treasure Coast Classic
3/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
The University of Connecticut men's golf team opens the 2007 spring season with competition at the Treasure Coast Classic at Indian Hills Golf Club in Ft. Pierce Fla. Wednesday. The tournament runs Wednesday through Friday and is hosted by St. John's University.
The University of Connecticut golf team enters the spring season with three proven and consistent scorers and looking for improved performance from a talented yet inexperienced group of underclassmen. Head Coach Ron Dubois and his Huskies are optimistic entering the spring. The program has now had one full year of use of its indoor practice facility and seems anxious to make the most of that outstanding resource.
The spring trip for the Huskies will provide an outstanding mix of three days of competition, use of the world class PGA Tour Training Facility in Port St. Lucie, Florida and play for each of the nine days on a variety of championship class courses. The Huskies have an ambitious spring schedule, which includes the Treasure Coast Classic. The Huskies will continue spring play with returns trips to the George Washington Invitational and the Yale Spring Opener. The tournament at Yale is a spot that UConn has had a wide range of success in the past, including a team championship, a second place finish and an individual medalist. Connecticut will then head to the New England Division I Golf Championship, looking to continue a string of top five finishes that stretches back over the past four spring seasons. The spring schedule will wrap up with another opportunity to compete in the always-tough BIG EAST Championship, a tournament that will be held this season at the Cardinal Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
Individually, the Huskies will rely on several golfers this spring, but none more that senior co-captain Jason Parajeckas (Woburn, Mass.). Parajeckas (pictured at left) is an All-New England and Golf Coaches’ Association of America honoree who has captured four individual titles in his Husky career. He averaged a career-best 72.2 this past fall and earned top ten’s in five of six events, including medalist honors at the Rutgers Invitational, where he carded a career-best round of 65 in the final round.
Senior co-captain Dan White (Westford, Mass) is expected to continue his steady play and is another Husky who has tasted individual success, capturing co-medalist honors at the 2005 Quinnipiac Invitational.
Junior A.J. Siekierski (North Grosvenordale, Conn.) is also an All-New England performer and was an individual medalist for the Huskies at the 2005 Yale Spring Opener. A.J., pictured at left, is a consistent performer who should be among the top Husky performers this spring.
Junior Brian Travalja (Oradell, N.J.) has appeared in 29 career events and has a career low round of 66. He played in all seven events for the Huskies last fall and will again be looked to for helpful scores in the spring. Sophomore L.J. Tosches (Grafton, Mass.) has shown glimpses of excellent play in his 17 career events, including a 67 at the BIG EAST/MAC Challenge in the fall. He should be a starter and his experience should help him gain that spot.
Junior Ryan Dandeneau (Chepachet, R.I.), sophomores Bret Siekierski (North Grosvenordale, Conn.) and Tim Strout (Nashua, N.H.) and freshmen Ben Estabrook (Bangor, Maine) and Derek Newman (Palatine, Ill.) will each enter the spring working closely with swing coach Jim West to improve their skills and course management as they look to find a spot in the lineup.
