The GW golf team came to play at its inaugural Rehoboth Beach Invitational placing second overall in the 15-team competition held last weekend at Rehoboth Beach, Del. The Colonials finished the two-round invitational with a team score of 606, just five strokes behind Iona College and five strokes ahead of the University of Maryland.

I felt like we played really intelligently, senior Ryan Day said. I think that we outsmarted all of the other teams with the exception of Iona. In our previous tournaments, we didn’t give ourselves the chances to save pars and possibly make some birdies. We gave ourselves those chances this week.

Ryan Day took advantage of those chances beating all 73 other competitors with the best individual score, a two-over-par 146 (72-74).

I didn’t hit the ball great, but I played smart and when I missed shots, I missed them in the right places, Day said.

GW’s Thomas Blankvoort performed well for the Colonials with a five-over-par 149 (77-72), good enough to finish in a two-way tie for fourth place overall.

I am fairly happy with the way I played, Blankvoort said. Towards the end of the first round I let some external factors get to me. This cost me some shots and really was the difference between a solid, smart round and the bad one that I did have. I played some great golf, but I am disappointed not to break par.

GW’s Bryan Derdenger tied for 14h place shooting a 156, while Brad Friedlander finished tied for 24th with a 159.

My short game still needs some work, Friedlander said. I struggled at the beginning of the first round, but played steady golf on the back nine to keep my score under 80. It was a long day and I felt my legs tiring down the stretch.

Overall, the invitational was a huge success for GW as the Colonials beat Maryland for the first time since 1957.

As coach, I had to worry about the team, as well as the organization of the tournament, Allen said. Maryland is a bigger school with a lot more money in a better conference, so beating them was really nice.

GW will look to continue their strong play Oct 13-14 when the team heads to the Lehigh-Stabler Intercollegiate in Bethlehem, Pa.