Eric Dietrich Wins Medalist Honors After Course-Record 64

UNCASVILLE, CT (April 27, 2016) – The UConn men’s golf team honored a team of visiting military veterans by giving them a performance to remember.  Hosted at Mohegan Sun Golf Club in Preston, CT, the tournament honors Til Duty Is Done, a Connecticut-based organization that helps returning military veterans with housing, employment and education.  The event featured the unique aspect of a competing team consisting entirely of veterans from the Veteran Golfers Association (VGA), playing alongside the 12 college teams.
UConn junior Eric Dietrich (Cheshire, Conn.) won the first tournament of his college career, highlighted by his course-record 64 in Sunday’s final round, to lead the Huskies to an 11-stroke victory.
It was the second tournament championship of the 2015-16 season for the Huskies and their seventh top five finish in 10 events. Their performance in the Til Duty Is Done Invitational, however, is likely the finest all-around performance in the nine-year head coaching career of UConn’s Dave Pezzino. UConn had four players shoot under par and had five players finish among the top 10.
The Huskies shot a sizzling 18-under 287-277-282=846 to outdistance the field in the 13-team tournament. Rhode Island was the runner-up, shooting a 7-under 293-282-288=857, while Army West Point was third with a 2-over 877.
Dietrich was simply outstanding, shooting the lowest score, a 13-under 203 (73-66-64=203), and the lowest round, 64, of his career, topping runner-up Evan Russell of Hartford by three strokes. Dietrich had two eagles and led the 76-player field by playing the Par 5 holes in 6-under par. It is the sixth top 10 and ninth top 20 finish of his career and he now has shot 20 rounds of par of better and nine sub-70 rounds.
Freshman Blake Kelley (Manchester, Conn.), playing as an individual in his first event of the season, tied for fourth place with a 6-under (73-67-70=210).
Senior co-captains Zach Zaback (Farmington, Conn.) and John Flaherty (Glastonbury, Conn.), also notched top 10 finishes. Zaback tied for sixth place with a 4-under 67-70-75=212, the 15th top 10 finish and 24th top 20 finish of his college career. Flaherty shot a 1-under 74-70-71=215 to finish eighth, his eighth top 10 finish.
Also finishing in the top 10 was UConn senior Cameron MacKay (Brookfield, Conn.), who shot a 1-over 73-72-72=217 to finish in a tie for 10th place, his second top-10 finish. Rounding out the UConn team finish was senior Corey Birch (Ridgefield, Conn.) who tied for 35th place with a 79-71-79=229.
Besides Kelley, there were five additional Huskies who played as individuals. Freshman Jimmy Hervol (Hopkinson, Mass.) shot 74-76-71=221 to tie for 16th place, junior Tyler Cooke (Warwick, R.I.) shot 75-72-77=224 to tie for 25th place, and sophomore Sasha Wortelboer (Geneva, Switzerland) shot 78-79-75=232 to tie for 40th place. Also competing for the Huskies were freshman Nabeel Khan (Westerville, Ohio), who shot 80-78-75=233 to tie for 45th place and freshman Nick Harrington (Chaplin, Conn.), who shot 74-78-84=236 to tie for 53rd place.
About Mohegan Sun:
Mohegan Sun, owned by the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, is one of the largest, most spectacular entertainment, gaming, dining and shopping destinations in the United States. Situated on 185 acres along the Thames River in scenic southeastern Connecticut, Mohegan Sun is home to three unique casinos, a 34-story, 1,200 room luxury hotel, a world-class spa and golf course, over 85 shops, restaurants and bars as well as three award-winning entertainment venues including a 10,000-seat Arena. Mohegan Sun is within easy access of New York, Boston, Hartford and Providence and located 15 minutes from the museums, antique shops and waterfront of Mystic Country. More information is available by calling 1.888.226.7711 or visiting mohegansun.com. Connect with us on     Facebook, follow us on Twitter and view us on YouTube.