BRANCHBURG, NJ – Brendan Smith (Sayville, NY/Sayville) led Monmouth University Men's Golf with a five-over par 75 to finish tied for 13^th, as the Hawks as a group tied for ninth in a 16-team field at the Saint Peter's Invitational at Fox Hollow Golf Club Monday.

On a tough golf course that saw just one player finish under par, the Hawks posted a team score of 312, just one shot shy of Rider in eighth and two of St. John's in seventh. Smith led MU with a 75, with Jimmy Criscione (Paramus, NJ/Bergen Catholic) finishing T26 after a 78. Rob McHugh (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) was just one shot behind Criscione to finish inside 80, with freshman Travis Dix (Howell, NJ/Howell) shooting 80 while posting the low score on the back-nine for a Hawk with 37. Glen-Michael Mihavetz (Montrose, CO/Montrose) shot 83 to round out the Blue and White's group. Bryant won the tournament with a 300, with the margin between first and ninth just 12 strokes.

NOTES

-Travis Dix was one of just three players in the tournament to birdie the par-4 11^th, a 348-yard hole.
-Brendan Smith was one of five players in the field to birdie the 181-yard par-3 ninth hole.
-Rob McHugh was one of eight on the day to birdie the par-3 179-yard fourth hole, chipping in.
-Jimmy Criscione and Glen-Michael Mihavetz played in their first tournament of the season.
-Travis Dix, Brendan Smith and Rob McHugh are the only Hawks to have played in every round this season.
-312 is MU's second-best team round of the season.
-After two tournaments, Travis Dix is MU's leader in scoring average at 76.0

UP NEXT
-The Hawks are back in action on March 27^th and 28^th at the Battle at Rum Pointe in Ocean City, MD.

FINAL LEADERBOARD
T11 – Brendan Smith – 75
T26 – Jimmy Criscione – 78
T36 – Rob McHugh – 79
T42 – Travis Dix – 80
T63 – Glen-Michael Mihavetz - 83

FINAL TEAM RANKINGS
1 – Bryant – 300
T2 – Fairleigh Dickinson - 302
T2 – Fairfield – 302
T4 – Iona – 305
T4 – Hartford – 305
6 – LIU – 308
7 – St. John's – 310
8 – Rider – 311
T9 – Monmouth – 312
T9 – LaSalle – 312
11 – Mount Saint Mary's – 317
12 – Sacred Heart – 318
13 – Wagner – 320
14 – Hofstra – 321
15 – Holy Cross – 328
16 – Manhattan - 332