FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DAVE VELARDO '08 HAS FINEST GOLF SEASON AT WESLEYAN IN MORE THAN 30 YEARS
(His Round of 69 During the Skidmore Invitational is First Under 70 by a Wesleyan golfer in 33 Years)

 

        Dave Velardo '08 may have written golf history at Wesleyan as his 16 rounds of medal play during the 2005-06 season ranged between a 69 and an 83, giving him a per round average of 77.1. In the team's final medal round, that at the Williams College Spring Opener Sat., April 22, Velardo tied for fifth in a field of 13 teams and 77 players as he carded a 76. To find a Wesleyan player whose performance comes close to rivaling that of Velardo, one has to look back to Joe Kazcikas '73, who as a senior shot under an 80 in 14 of his 16 rounds and sported a per round average of 77.4. Other top accomplishments for Velardo this season included opening the year with a solid 151 total at the Skidmore Invitational which included a round of 69, the lowest score by a Wesleyan golfer since Gary Burnett scored a 68 at Hickory Ridge in Amherst, Mass on April 18, 1972. There have been only two previous rounds of Wesleyan golf under a 70 over the last 40 years with the best, a 67, recorded in 1967 by Steve Keim. In the NESCAC Championship at Williams Oct. 1-2, Velardo carded a 156 total to tie for 13th among 61 players. That was good enough to give him second-team All-NESCAC honors as the top seven are first team and places eighth through 14 are second team. Velardo ended the fall campaign with an 81-77-158 total at the New England Championship to tie for 49th in a field of 225 players. He also won the putting competition over 44 other entrants to give Wesleyan the title in that area.

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