HARRISBURG, Pa. (September 11, 2023) – Sophomore Austin Liao tied for eighth place out of 75 golfers to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology golf team at the season-opening The Gauntlet tournament. The two-day event was contested at the Dauphin Highlands, a par-72, 6,923-yard golf course.

As a team, the Ducks finished 13th in a competitive field that featured several regional and national powerhouses, including No. 25 Franklin & Marshall, Randolph-Macon, and York. F&M fired a 286 Monday to overcome a seven-stroke deficit to win the team title with a 574, finishing one stroke ahead of Randolph-Macon. Individually, Drew's Elliot Parker had an impressive 7-under par Monday to win the championship by one stroke over Allegheny's Carter Hassenplug and York's Jason Velez. 

Liao had a fantastic opening round, carding three birdies and an eagle to finish 3-under. He then added another three birdies to his card Monday, shooting 2-over, to finish the tournament 1-under (143). Both Liao's opening-round 69, and his score of 3-under par, are tied for the third-lowest marks in program history. 

The event marked the collegiate debut for first-years Ben Slicker and Maxime Debets.

The Rundown

• Stevens had a total of seven golfers in the field, with Slicker and sophomore Brock Dickson playing as individuals.
• Senior Gus Vickers was the next highest finisher, carding 3-over for the tournament and tying for 27th. The Naples, Florida native totaled seven birdies across the two rounds, including an impressive run of five straight Monday on holes 2-6. 
• Sophomore Punn Chittaratlert and junior Will Fulton rounded out the Ducks' counting scores, totaling eight birdies across the two rounds. 
• In his first event, Debets totaled six birdies in finishing 15-over. He trimmed seven shots off his opening-round score, tying the second-greatest improvement from the first round to the second.

Top Performers

• As part of his collegiate debut, Slicker was actually the third-highest finisher for Stevens, finishing 4-over after an even-par performance in his first-ever college round.
• Dickson, meanwhile, finished +8 after carding three birdies Monday.

For the Opponents

• A total of 12 players in the field finished the tournament under par. 
• Parker's score of 65 was the lowest single-round score in the event.
• Finishers in the top 12 represented nine different institutions.

Around the MAC Freedom 

• Lebanon Valley @ Lions Invitational – Postponed
• DeSales @ Lions Invitational – Postponed
• Wilkes 317 King's 327 (Match Play)
• Marywood 332 Misericordia 356 (Match Play)
• Wilkes 333 Misericordia 356 (Match Play)

Coach's Comments

• "Not satisfied with the results, but we have some new players in unfamiliar spots. There were some exciting things to see this weekend from a few of our newcomers and congratulations to Austin on his top-eight finish." – head coach Charles Papendick

Up Next
Stevens returns to the links one week from today (Sept. 18) to participate in the FDU Fall Invitational. The single-day event will be contested at the Mendham (N.J.) Golf and Country Club.

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